The Girl Marauder: Book 2
by Leyla Joelle
Summary: In the Sequel to 'The Girl Marauder' Luna's been missing for a year and half when a raid on a Death Eater's house finds her and brings her home. Reunited at last, it isn't long before Dumbledore gives them a mission: Trach down horcruxes and destory them.
1. The Story Begins

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Luna._

**_Hey guys!_**

**_So excited are you that the first chapter of the new book is up? Hope you enjoy it, and DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW! It makes me happy, and you want a happy author, don't you? _**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

**Chapter 1**

_Found and Reunions_

**POV Sirius Black**

"Sirius! Sirius, wake up!" A voice hissed, and I looked up to see my best friend, James Potter looking down at me, fully dressed despite the time.

"Prongs, it's three in the morning! _What_?" I cried, and James flipped the lights on, running around the room.

"Hurry, get dressed. The Ministry called, we need to go."

"Ministry?" I yelped, jumping out of bed and scurrying to get dressed. Since Hogwarts, James and I had become Aurors, while Remus was currently working for werewolf rights, and Luna... Luna had gone missing a year and a half ago, nobody's seen her since.

Running out the door, I threw my auror's robe on and joined James by the fireplace.

"Where we going?" I asked, jumping up and down, trying to get myself un-tired. James grimaced.

"Lestrange Manor. Let's go." He said, before walking into the fireplace and disappearing in a swirl of green flames. Following him, I closed my eyes as I stepped into to the fireplace.

"Lestrange Manor." I said, taking off. Everything swirled for a minute, until I stepped out of the fireplace. The manor was loaded with other aurors fighting death eaters. Alastor Moody was currently dueling Rodolphus Lestrange, while I watched Bellatrix dueling with someone I had never seen before. Ducking a spell, I joined in the fight.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, hitting a Death Eater in the face. James was behind me, fighting another Death Eater while I helped Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Duck!" A girl's voice yelled as a stream of green light passed over my head. Without turning to face her, I grinned.

"Thanks!" I called back, and the girl laughed.

"Don't mention it!"

I watched as most of the Death Eater's were overcome, including Bellatrix who was stunned on the floor, the girl from before standing over her. Getting a better look at the girl, I grimaced. The girl had burn marks around her legs, and her arms were scarred with small white lines. Her back was turned to me, but she had dark brown hair falling down to her mid-back area. The girl spat at Bellatrix before turning to me, her sky blue eyes shining.

"Good job, Swift." Moody grunted, and the girl nodded.

"Thanks." She panted before collapsing on the floor.

"Black, can you take care of her?" Moody asked, and I nodded, picking her up. She looked scarily familiar, and I had that unsettling feeling starting to rise in my stomach.

Her face had dirt marks over it, and she was wearing severely ripped jean shorts and a dirty tank top. Setting her down on a stretcher, I studied her for a moment. Her hair was matted and very dirty, falling to her waist, her side bangs falling into her face. She had a light spray of freckles over her cheeks, and she had light red lips. She was beautiful, though slightly underfed, I noticed. And her eyes gave me no doubt of who she was. I had solved the mystery of the missing Moonpaw.

"James, comes over here." I called, and James walked over, looking quite winded. He looked at Luna then back to me.

"Is she ok?"He asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Look closer." I said, and he studied her face for a moment before her eyes widened.

"Is it really-" He started, cut off by my nodding. James grinned.

"This is great! Padfoot, she's alive." He said, and I nodded. He must have seen my worried expression because he smiled sadly.

"Sirius, she'll be ok." He said reassuringly, before looking back at Luna.

"Missing Moonpaw come back at last." He grinned before walking off to help one of the aurors. I stared at her for a few minutes when Luna coughed, propping herself up on her elbows.

"What?" She mumbled, looking around. She looked quite dazed, and I winced as I saw the three large red claw marks that covered one side of her neck. I smiled weakly, and she looked up at me, her eyes widening.

"I'm alive." She realized, and I nodded.

"That's right, Luna. Your alive." I agreed, and Luna grinned, before it fell off her face.

"Luna... You have no idea how long it's been since someone called me that." She sighed, falling back on the stretcher. I smiled sadly.

"Your safe now, try to get some sleep." I said, but she snorted.

"Ya, sure. No. I don't sleep.. well. Anymore." She added, smiling sadly. She took a deep breath, looking deep in thought.

"I'm safe. I'm not dead... impossible." She trailed off, her eyes starting to have a far away look in them and she and passed out.

"Sirius?" A voice asked, and I turned to see Mary MacDonald smiling at me.

"Hi Mary." I greeted my fiance'. Mary smiled, looking down at Luna and gasping.

"Sirius! What happened to her?" She asked, and I grimaced.

"You remember how Luna Swift went missing a year and a half ago?" I asked, and Mary nodded before grimacing.

"No way... oh dear." She sighed, walking over to Luna's sighed and checking her pulse.

"It's so quick, no one's pulse is that fast... unless they've been subjected to the cruciatus curse for a while... poor girl." She sighed, pulling out a bag. Mary, after Hogwarts, had immediately went to St. Mungo's, and was now one of the beast Healers out there.

"Here, Sirius, run along. I'll take care of her." She said, and I left to go help James.

**POV Luna Swift**

I opened my eyes, only to see white. Great, I was dead. Just wonderful.

"How are you feeling?" A soft voice asked, and I blinked, looking around. I wasn't dead. I was in a white room. A girl was sitting at the end of my bed, smiling kindly. I blinked again, propping myself up on my elbows.

"What happened?" I asked, the girl smiled. She looked about nineteen. My age.

"You passed out on us after the aurors took over Lestrange Manor." She said, and I shuddered.

"You mean I'm alive?" I asked, and she nodded. I grinned, falling back on the covers and sighed in relief. The girl smiled, holding out a hand.

"Mary MacDonald. You probably don't remember with all that's happened, but-" She started, but I cut her off, shaking her hand.

"You helped me get ready for the masquerade ball in seventh year, your one of my dorm mates back at Hogwarts. Well, _were_." I corrected, and Mary nodded, looking slightly happier.

"I'm surprised you remember. You've been subjected to so much the past year and a half.." She trailed off, and I grimaced, shuddering. I put my hand on my neck, and Mary smiled.

"It's all healed, just some light scarring." She smiled, and I nodded happily. I felt stiff, like I hadn't moved forever. After a few seconds Mary pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

"This is a real bother, but it's part of the job. I need your full name, sex, and age."

"Lunasa_ Bellatrix_ Swift, female, age nineteen." I said, spitting out the word Bellatrix. If I ever get my hands on her...

"Very good. You were born on June first, right?" Mary asked, and I nodded.

"Well, that's all taken care of. You'll be in here for a little while, the stress your body's been through is extreme, and it needs to be watched." Mary sighed before leaving the room. Sighing, I looked around the room.

"Where the bloody hell is my wand?" I asked, frustrated. I had barely done any magic in the past two years, I want my wand!

"It's being checked out right now, you'll get it tomorrow." A voice said from the doorway, and I turned to see James Potter standing there. His hair was messed up as usual, and his clothes were ragged, but it was definitely James. He grew, too.

"Hullo Potter." I smiled, and James grinned walking over.

"It's good to see you again, Moonpaw."

"It's good to be seen again, Prongs." I sighed, and James nodded, sitting down in a chair next to my bed.

"So, what brings you to my sick bed?" I asked, and James smiled.

"Visiting. None of us has seen you forever. Sirius wanted to come, but Lily made him stay at home. He's been freaking out, you know. He thought you were dead."

I sat up, frowning. "Have a little faith, I don't give in that easily."

James sighed.

"I know you don't. But these are dark times. Voldemort could be anywhere, you never know who to trust, and when someones goes missing-"

"They usually end up dead?" I supplied, and James nodded. I shook my head.

"James, I'm not 'Usually". Because "usually" people don't end up being captured by death eaters- three times, all under the age of twenty. I'm the werewolf-who-refused-to-die-no-matter-what-happened-because-she-was-too-bloody-stubborn." I grinned, and James grinned back. We both jumped when there was a knock on the door.

"James? What's the emergency?" Remus Lupin asked, doing a double take when he saw me.

"Hi Remmy." I greeted the astonished Remus Lupin standing in front of me. Like the rest of us, his appearance had barely changed since seventeen, though he was a little bit taller, like James.

"Luna?" He asked, and I nodded. Remus suddenly smiled.

"Your alive?"

I shook my head solemnly.

"No. I'm a ghost. Boo." I said, and James laughed quietly. Remus smiled and was about to speak when Mary walked in, rolling her eyes.

"Come on you two, out! Out! Luna needs her rest!" She said, slapping both of them lightly upside the head before turning to me, when something on her finger caught my eyes.

"Gorgeous ring." I complimented, and Mary smiled, nodding in agreement. The ring was small, except for the time. It was a sapphire, sitting proudly in the center of the ring next to a smaller clear diamond.

"Engagement ring, I'm getting married next year."

"Congratulations!" I smiled, and Mary beamed, though she looked slightly guilty.

"Thank you! Now, it's time for you to get your beauty rest..." She trailed off, pulling out a small container from her pockets. I grimaced as she handed it to me.

"You'll be waking up in 42 hours time. I'll see you then." She said after I downed it, and I groaned as the world became blurry until it faded to black.

**POV Sirius Black**

I jumped as two green bursts came from the fireplace, and Remus and James walked in, the latter covered in soot. Brushing himself off, James grinned.

"She's doing great, Pads. Amazing, really." James said, and Remus nodded in agreement. I sighed in relief.

"Good to hear. How's Mary?" I asked, and Remus scratched the back of his head.

"She kicked us out after a few minutes, Luna needed to rest, saw Mary giving her a sleeping draught." He said, and I chuckled slightly. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Luna doesn't _-_didn't_-_ like sleeping draughts, apparently they don't work for her, or they used to not to." I shrugged, and James nodded, yawning.

"I'm gonna hit the sack, now. Spending the day in.." He said, climbing up the stairs and into bed, followed by Remus, and shortly after, me.

**POV Luna Swift**_(Two days later)_

Blinking, I woke feeling extremely energetic, and that's saying something, since I haven't felt energetic since my graduation at Hogwarts- two years ago.

Stretching, I smiled. I was free. No more torture, no more dungeons, no more bad food... I jumped when the door opened, and Mary walked in with a piece of paper, grinning.

"Just got your release forms early, Luna, You're free to go when you please." Mary said, and I grinned, before it fell off my face.

"Hm.. I'll need to visit Gringotts, somewhere to stay.." I mused, but Mary shook her head.

"I have that taken care of. You'll be moving in with Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius." She said, and I nodded, slightly taken aback. How many things got settled while I was out?

"Ok then.." I said, standing up only to fall back on my bed. Mary smiled sadly, helping me up.

"Sorry, that was a really strong potion you took, it should completely wear off into a few minutes." She smiled, and I sat down on my bed, thinking. I was free, I could do whatever I want... Thinking, I decided as soon as possible I was going to make myself hot chocolate. A few minutes later, I carefully stood up and walked around the room, thrilled when I didn't fall down.

"Well, there you go! Come on, I'll take you to the fireplace, you can floo from there. Also- your wand is already as the house, it's in your room." Mary added, and I nodded as we walked down the hallways. Mary had given me jeans and t-shirt, along with a pair of socks so I wasn't stuck wearing a pair of ripped shorts and a thrashed t-shirt. Walking into the fireplace, I grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"What do I say?" I asked, and May smiled.

"Potter Mansion. I'll see you later." She waved. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes.

"Potter Mansion." I whispered, taking off into a whirl of green flames.

**POV Remus Lupin**

I jumped as a roar came from the fire place below, and I looked down the balcony to see Luna stepping out of the fireplace, coughing.

"Stupid ashes.." She muttered, looking up at me.

"Hi Moony!" She greeted cheerfully, and I walked down the stairs quickly, capturing her in a small hug. Luna smiled blowing her side bangs out of her face.

"You look great- I see Mary's been doing an amazing job." I commented, and Luna nodded.

"She's amazing." She agreed, and I smiled, helping her into the kitchen.

"Sirius and James are still asleep, but they'll be up soon. Also, Lily's arriving around twelve, she's dying to see you."

"Brilliant. Hey, you have any hot chocolate?" Luna asked, and I nodded, throwing her a packet. Luna caught it quickly, and I realized her reflexes had quickened. She was also slimmer, but thanks to Mary she looked fairly healthy. Tearing the package open, she quickly poured the package in along with some water and started heating it up.

"So, is it good to be back?" I asked, and Luna turned to me, nodding.

"You have no idea."

Smiling, I watched as she picked up her mug, taking a sip from the hot chocolate. A second later we heard a loud bang, followed by a few choice cuss words as James stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his head.

"Stupid stairs.." He muttered, and Luna laughed a bit. James turned to her, blinking.

"Morning Remus." He greeted Luna, turning back to his coffee. Luna raised an eyebrow before speaking.

"James, Lily's here!" She cried, and James perked up instantly.

"Lily-flower?" He asked, falling on the ground. Luna looked calmly down at him.

"Morning Prongsie. Sleep well?" She asked, and James nodded, crawling up.

"Very funny, you two. Where's Sirius, by the way?" James asked, his question soon answered by another loud bang, a little bit more swearing then James, before Sirius entered the room.

"Morning." He greeted, slumping into his chair. Luna rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her hot chocolate before yawning.

"Well, I'm gonna go wash up. I'll see you later, then." She waved, walking out the door. A second later Sirius turned to us.

"So, when's Luna coming?"

**POV Luna Swift**

After my shower, I magically dried myself before throwing on some other clothes Mary had gotten for me. Quickly, I put on faded jeans and a dark blue peasant shirt, pulling my hair into a loose braid. Sighing, I smiled.

I looked normal.

Leaving the bathroom, I slid down the bannister downstairs, when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" James called, running down the hallway. A few seconds later I heard Lily Evan's voice ringing around the house.

"I know, James! Now where is she?" Lily asked, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek before catching sight of me.

"Luna!" She cried, running over and pulling me into a tight hug.

"Hello Flowers." I greeted, and Lily grinned, her green eyes sparkling as she examined me.

"It's so good to see you again, I'm so glad your alright! How long have you been here?" Lily asked, and I grinned.

"Since this morning."

"Well, then! I'm surprised you haven't already moved out, they way these three clean.. well, Remus is ok." She added as an afterthought, twirling me around as I laughed. There were several large thumps as someone came down the stairs, but I ignored them, dancing with Lily.

"Dum, duh da, dum dum!" We sang, laughing, twirling each other around like we used to. Finally we broke apart, laughing.

"Lovely, dear Luna!" Lily cried, and I nodded.

"As were you, darling Lily!" I laughed, when James picked her up and started dancing with her. Grinning, I watched as they twirled around the hallways, dancing to no music.

"Quite amusing to watch, isn't it?" A voice said from behind me, and I grinned, nodding.

"Glad they got together." I said, and Sirius sat down next to me.

"It's good to have you back."

"Good to be back, mate. Now if you'll excuse me.." I piped, laughing as James grabbed my hand as well, and Lily, James and I danced around the hall.

"Three's a bit larger then I thought." James mused, and Lily nodded before letting go of his hands as I did, kicking him out of the group.

"Shall we continue dancing, lovely Lily?" I asked, and Lily nodded.

"I think we shall, lively Luna."

So, we did.

**POV Sirius Black**

I watched as Lily and Luna danced around the hallway, singing. Luna looked amazing, despite being hidden away for a year and a half. Though from the Luna in the photos, and the one standing in front of me, differences were easy to see.

First of all she had gotten slimmer, and her hair hung down to the middle of her back. Her face was slightly bruised around the corner of her jaw, and she was pale from lack of sun. Her neck had three claw marks on the right side, but besides that there were no other knew scars.

"Dum, da dum dum da dum!" Lily and Luna sang, falling backwards on the couch laughing. Girls.

"Well, now that you've gotten that done, how about we have lunch?" I suggested, and Lily nodded, her shoulders still shaking with laughter.

"Ok, ok. Come on Luna." She smiled, and the two girls broke into laughter once more before walking into the kitchen, arm-in-arm. James sat down next to me, smiling.

"It's good to have Luna back. The Marauders are once again complete." He mused, and I nodded in agreement. Remus turned to me, smiling.

"It's odd, isn't it? How well Luna fits in. She's been gone for a year and half, and all the sudden she comes back and things pick right back up. Except for you two, of course. Be kinda hard to date when your engaged." Remus mused, and I shrugged.

"Your going to have to tell her." James said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Padfoot! She has a right to know, don't you think? I mean, technically she is your ex-girlfriend." James mused, and I gaped. I never really thought about it like that, but I guess they were right. When I started seeing Mary four months ago, that moved Luna into the ex department. Odd.

"She'll probably find out anyways.." I trailed off. Remus glared at me before sighing in defeat.

"Fine." He said, walking into the kitchen and letting out a completely un-Remus like scream.

"What?" James asked, before running inside the kitchen and yelling as well. Sighing, I entered the kitchen to find Lily and Luna laughing like crazy as James and Remus jumped up on the counter, trying to avoid the giant snarling dog standing in the middle of the kitchen. It's head touched the ceiling, and it's face was pulled into a ferocious snarl, the kind that said "Curl up and Die".

"What did you do?" I yelled, and Luna laughed, pulling her wand out. With a simple wave the snarling dog disappeared.

"Showing Lily a new spell..." Luna laughed, and Lily nodded.

"Oh, Remus! Your face!" Lily laughed, the girls leaning against each other. Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the doorway, watching with amusement. Finally both girls straightened up, looks of glee on their faces.

"Oh, that was too perfect." Luna smiled, and I nodded in agreement.

"What was perfect?" A voice asked, and I watched as Mary walked in, kissing me on the cheek before putting her purse down, looking at the scene before her. She raised an eyebrow at Lily and Luna.

"What did you two do?" She asked, and Lily grinned, walking out the door.

"Nothing, dear Mary, nothing at all. Why do you ask?" Lily asked innocently before disappearing from sight. Mary laughed slightly, watching with an amused expression as James and Remus hurried out of the kitchen, their faces turning red.

"I stay at work for more then an hour, and already somethings happened." She sighed, kissing me on the cheek again before shooing Luna and I out of the kitchen.

"So, how did you get the dog?" I asked, and Luna grinned mischievously.

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out." She said firmly, turning the corner and leaving me standing there, dumbfounded.

**_So what did you think? Like it? Love it? Did you want to start banging your head on the computer and shrieking, "IT'S A DISGRACE TO HUMANITY!" ? If it is, then I know I did my job and soon you will all be as insane as me. Ha! _**

**_Just kidding, just kidding... Well, don't forget to review! Even a small one, it's appreciated! _**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**


	2. Ex's and Dumbledore Visits

**_Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the great reviews, I appreciate it so, so much! You have no idea. I've been posting once a week because I have not completed this book yet, though I am close, and once it is finished I will be posting new chapters more often, I promise. Thanks for being patient!_**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

**Chapter 2**

_Ex's and Dumbledore_

**POV Luna Swift**

I sighed, shutting the door to my new room. Walking over, I sat down on one of the two beds, sighing. Lily had told me in the kitchen.

I should've known Sirius would've moved on- heck, I was gone for a year and a half. And Mary was great... but it _hurt_! Taking deep breathes, I looked into the mirror. I looked fine, but my eyes had gone silver.

"_Great_." I groaned, blinking several times, grinning when they changed back to normal. I pulled my hair band out, shaking my hair loose. It was soft, silky even. Not matted. Thank goodness, I was scared of getting dreadlocks.

I fell back on the bed, sighing. It was weird, the feelings going through my body. First of all, shock. I was _alive_. I wasn't dead, or insane. Yet. Second, hurt. Sirius had moved on, heck, he was _engaged_. Third, happiness. Again, I wasn't dead, and Bellatrix was on her way to Azkaban. Fourth: Awkward. Here I was, an ex-girlfriend moving in with her ex-boyfriend, who is currently engaged. Awkward, indeed.

"Thinking?" A voice asked, and I jumped, my hand going for my wand faster then I thought possible. Stepping out of the shadows, Lily smiled sadly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Er...?" I trailed off helpfully, and Lily nodded, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"I decided to tell you because I think it might be better if you heard it from me, then one of those idiots out there." She said, and I smiled slightly, blowing my side bangs out of my face. Lily rubbed my arm before standing up, stretching.

"I'll be in the living room if you need me." She called, walking out the door.

Sighing, I fell down on the bed, closing my eyes. Images flashed through my head. Bellatrix grinning cruelly, tubs filled with silver, a full moon and an evil howling piercing through the air as he approached me, even in his wolf form his eyes glowing cruelly, baring his teeth. Afterwards, my neck feeling like it had been ripped off. I shuddered, jumping when someone put a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes concerned. I nodded, sitting up and sighing. Sirius smiled sadly.

"Lunch is ready, just thought I'd let you know... so uh, ya. I'll go now." He shifted uncomfortably, leaving the room.

Standing up, I slowly walked out of the room, glancing down the hallway before turning right, walking down the stairs.

"And Moonpaw arrives! Sandwich?" James offered, and I grinned, taking the turkey sandwich out of his hands.

"Yes, thank you." I smiled, sitting down next to Remus and crossing my legs. We ate in silence for a moment when Mary walked in, sitting down next to Sirius. I turned, facing Remus.

"So, how has your life been?" I asked, and Remus shrugged.

"Fairly good. I'm working for werewolf rights at the ministry. Not much to tell, except that we're starting to get places." He smiled, and I nodded, turning to James.

"And you?" I asked, and James grinned.

"Sirius and I have been working at the auror department for the past year, recently graduated to aurors, so we're not in training any more, thank goodness." He sighed, and I nodded, hesitating for a moment before turning to Sirius.

"And what about you, Sirius?"

"Er, like James said, aurors. And I proposed to Mary a month ago, we're getting married next year in the summer." He shifted uncomfortably, but this went unnoticed to Mary, who perked up at the word "married".

"It's going to be this beautiful outdoor wedding. Oh Luna, you will be a bridesmaid, won't you?" She asked, and I smiled, nodding.

"Of course, Mary."

"Awesome!" She cried, and I looked down, staring at my sandwich. I was having the strangest urge to hit something...

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a moment." I smiled, standing up and walking into my room. Shutting the door, I clenched my fist and punched a pillow, causing it to fly and knock into the wall. Brushing myself off, I walked back out into the living room.

_ooooooooooo_

**POV Sirius**

The next few weeks were a blur. Luna was usually reading out in the living room, or more usually on the porch in the sun, soaking up as much light as she could, while Lily stayed with her. I'd see them on the porch talking many times, but the last time I tried listening in, I got stuck with a red nose. This time, though, I was using fool-proof methods.

"Very funny, Flower. You know that's not possible." Luna growled, looking up from her book. Lily smiled, her eyes shining.

"But still, I mean at least you guys are so cu-" She started, but Luna cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it. Lily, it's _over._ I hate it too, but it's not something I can help." Luna sighed, standing up.

"But come on, Luna! Just listen-" Lily pleaded, but Luna glared at her, her eyes sad.

"Drop it, Lily. Now." She demanded, walking through the door and promptly bumping into me.

"What? -PADFOOT!" Luna cried, taking off the invisibility cloak and slapping me upside the head. I grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry Moonpaw."

"Don't lie." She snorted, sitting on the couch. I looked over her shoulder.

"So, whatcha reading?"

"Since when did you care about books?" Luna asked, and I had to give her that one.

"Fine. What are you doing?" I asked, and Luna sighed, putting her book down.

"I'm _about_ to pull out my wand and hex you."

"Bye." I said flatly, before taking off running down the hallway.

"No you don't, Black!" Luna yelled, and before I knew it I felt something furry pouncing on top of me.

"Moonpaw! Get off!" I cried, looking up at the white dog, who had a doggy grin plastered on her face. Stepping off me, the dog raised it's head up, prancing down the hallway happily and turning the corner before turning back into Luna.

"Sorry Padfoot!" Luna called, when I heard a roar come from the fireplace. Running downstairs, I turned to see Luna standing there, helping Albus Dumbledore out of the fireplace.

"What are you doing here, Professor?" Luna asked, and Dumbledore beamed.

"To see you of course, my dear. I also have a... proposition for you." He said, the smile falling off of his face. Luna nodded, before turning around. She flinched slightly, her hand running down the back of her neck before she spoke.

"PEOPLE! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSES, THE HEADMASTER IS HERE!" She yelled, and James, Lily and Remus all walked into the living room, quickly followed by me. Dumbledore smiled at us and gestured for us to sit.

"I have a proposition for you four."

"Wait, four?" Lily asked, and Dumbledore nodded.

"James, Remus, Sirius and Luna, I'm afraid. You, dear Lily, are needed somewhere else." He said, and Lily nodded, looking down. Dumbledore turned back to us.

"I've come to you four because you are all experienced with what I am about to tell you. In short, I have found a way to destroy Lord Voldemort." He said, and everyone's head snapped up.

"What! How?" Luna asked, and Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"Horcruxes, my dear girl."

"Horcrutches?"

"Horcruxes. When a fragment of a wizard's soul is placed into an inanimate object." Dumbledore said, and we all gaped.

"A-and how does one do that?" Remus asked, and Dumbledore nodded.

"When a wizard murders someone, it splits their soul. Taking that piece of soul, and putting it into an object, say a book for instance, it will allow the witch or wizard who put it there to be somewhat immortal, unless the objects are destroyed, the piece of soul with it."

"Wow. So basically you want us too-?" I asked, and Dumbledore nodded grimly.

"Find and destroy these Horcruxes's ."

"Wait." I said suddenly. "You said 's', as in plural?"

"I did indeed, my dear boy."

"Great. That's really.. great." Luna said in a strained voice, stopping her pacing as she looked up at Dumbledore.

"And you want_ us_ to go, _why_?"

"You all have had experience with dark matters, and this is no different. You are also very experience wizards, and I can't send just anybody. It's a very dangerous journey, and I can not guarantee that you'll come back alive." Dumbledore said gravely, and Luna nodded.

"Well, I'm in."

"What!" Lily gaped, staring at her best friend. Luna shrugged.

"I've been through worse. Besides, if we can destroy at least one of these horcruxes, we're one step closer to defeating Voldemort." Luna reasoned, and Remus sighed.

"If you say it's dangerous, headmaster, no doubt it is. But this could help us win the war, so I'll go. Someone needs to keep an eye on Luna, anyways."

"Thank you, Remus, Luna. James, Sirius, have you made up your minds?" He asked, and I thought for a moment before nodding.

"I'll go." I decided, and Dumbledore nodded, turning to James who was looking pleadingly at Lily.

"James, I don't know, what if you don't come back?"

"He will. I'll make sure he does." Luna said, and Lily nodded, looking slightly relieved.

"Fine, go if you must. But be safe, all of you." Lily sighed, and James turned to Dumbledore, nodding.

"It is decided then! Come to my office in the morning, I suggest you each only bring one bag, maybe two. You'll be traveling for awhile. I do hope you have a few spare months?" Dumbledore asked, and we all gaped.

"_Months_?" Lily whispered, and Dumbledore nodded.

"The horcruxes are in unknown places, we can only use what we know of Lord Voldemort to find them, and I will reveal that information to you in the morning. I have already taken care of the Ministry for you, Sirius, James, Remus. You are set to go at a moments notice. I will see you in the morning." Dumbledore nodded before flooing back to his office. The five of us sat blankly on the couch, thinking when Luna spoke.

"I'm gonna go pack. Lily, would you mind helping me?"

Lily nodded, and the two girls left the room arm-in-arm. I turned to James.

"Did we really just agree to go search for horcrutches?"

"Horcruxes, Padfoot. And yes, yes we did."

_ooooooooooo_

**POV Luna Swift**

"So, how about this?" Lily asked, throwing a sundress at me. I rolled my eyes, throwing it back at her.

"Flowers, I don't think I'll have time to go around in a sundress. We're horcruxe hunting here. Hand me those jeans, will you?" I asked, and Lily threw me a pair of ripped jeans, perfect for climbing. Lily sighed.

"At least this? Come on, you know you want to!" Lily laughed, throwing me a flimsy pair of shorts.

"Really Lily? Why on earth would I wear these? I might as well go around in my underwear!"

"What? Show off your arse for once, and your legs. I'd kill for your legs." She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you, Lily, for that wonderful input. Besides, it's not like there's any guys coming." I said, and Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" I laughed, and Lily rolled her eyes, walking over to my side and shutting my suitcase.

"There's Sirius."

"Who's engaged!" I cried, and Lily shrugged.

"I know, but still.."

"Lily!" I cried, trying not to laugh. "You're not trying to set me up with an engaged man, are you?"

"But you're a cute couple!"

"We _were_ a cute couple. Now, help me pack suitable things, if you will." I said, and Lily sighed, frowning.

"Fine. But mark my words, Luna, something big is going to happen for you on this trip. I predict it!"

"If it's my death, I'll sue." I said seriously before laughing."You're so dramatic."

"That's why you love me!" Lily sang, throwing a plaid t-shirt into the suitcase along with a pair of hiking boots.

"Hm.. should I bring this?" I asked, holding up a dark grey sweater. Lily nodded vigorously.

"It brings out your eyes." She said, and I beamed.

"Sweet. Wait. Lily, what is this doing in my bag?" I asked, and Lily grinned sheepishly as I pulled out the flimsy shorts. I rolled my eyes, throwing them back into the closet.

_ooooooooooo_

The next morning I got up at 5:30 thanks to Lily's alarm clock. Sitting up, I took a quick shower before changing into ripped jeans, a dark blue t-shirt and hiking boots, clunking downstairs and into the kitchen to see Sirius sitting there with a newspaper and coffee, still in pajamas. He looked at me oddly.

"What?" I asked, and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"Merlin, _please_ tell me you didn't forget." I said, but Sirius just sat there, staring blankly at me. I sighed.

"We leave in ten minutes to go Horcruxe hunting, Sirius! Get dressed!" I cried, and Sirius stood up, jumping over the table and out of the room, racing upstairs.

"Watch it Padfoot!" Remus yelled, appearing downstairs in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, a brown fuzzy jacket pulled over his arms.

"Morning Moonpaw." He greeted, and I nodded.

"Morning Moony."

"Morning Prongs." James said as he entered the room, stretching. He was wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and boots like me, his hair disheveled as he poured his coffee.

"Where's Padfoot?" James asked, when a cry came from the living room.

"Padfoot's here! OW!" There was a loud thunk, and we all looked out the kitchen to see Sirius sprawled on the floor, rubbing his head. Laughing, I walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him up.

"Thanks." He breathed, and I nodded before turning around, walking into Lily.

"I'm gonna miss you so much!" She frowned, hugging me tightly. I smiled.

"Hey, we'll be back before you know it. Mary will probably be stopping by, and maybe Alice can come over every now and then. You'll hardly miss us." I said, and Lily nodded, wrapping her arms around James.

"Just don't die. Any of you, kay?" She asked, and James nodded, pecking her on the cheek before walking up to the fireplace, bag in hand.

"Dumbledore's office!" He called, and disappeared in a flash of green, followed by Remus, then Sirius. As I stepped into the fireplace, Lily winked at me.

"Go get him, tiger."

"_Lily_!" I laughed before taking off into a whirl of green light, stumbling out of the fireplace and into Dumbledore's office.

James, Sirius and Remus were standing in front of the headmaster, talking when I walked up, shaking some soot off of my shirt.

Dumbledore smiled at me before placing a small blue beaded bag into my hand.

"Take this with you, it will have all you need in it, including a tent." He said, and I nodded, putting it in my jean pocket.

"So where do we go?" I asked, and Dumbledore nodded.

"That is up to you, Ms. Swift. The information I give you about Voldemort is this: His_ real_ name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, named after his muggle father. I believe that if you can locate some family members, dead or alive, you may find places that were close to him. I have reason to believe he's related to the Gaunt family, alas, I am not sure. This port key will take you to the village where the Riddle's and Gaunt's used to live." He said, gesturing to a tea kettle.

We all nodded, and Dumbledore smiled.

"I do wish I could go with you, but I must see to my students. I wish you the best of luck, and that you have a safe journey." He waved as we grabbed onto the port key, taking off in a flash of blue.

"So, when do we let go?" I yelled as we spun around. Remus looked around for a moment before nodding.

"Now!" He said, and we let go, landing roughly on the ground.

"Oh, my back." James groaned, as Remus helped Sirius and I up. Walking over, I lifted James to his feet.

"Come on, four-eyes. Wait- we're in a grave yard. I hate grave yards!" I groaned, looking around at the tombstones surrounding us. Remus shrugged.

"It's not that bad."

"Sure, sure. Let's get out of here, please." I said, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him out, James and Sirius following us.

"So, where do we go exactly?" Sirius asked, and James thought for a moment.

"We could ask around for the Gaunt house?" He suggested, and I nodded.

"That could work." I mused, but Remus shook his head.

"No need. It's up there." He said, pointing up the hill. On the gate it had the word "Gaunt" written on it. I patted Remus on the back.

"Nice job. Let's go." I said, walking up the hill. It wasn't to long a of a walk, but it was a scary one. The dirt was dry and smooth, so it was easy to slip on, and the over-grown vegetable patches didn't make the house look anymore welcoming.

"Watch it!" James called, and I looked behind me as James and Remus helped Sirius up after he tripped over a dry root.

"Come on guys, hurry up!" I yelled, walking onto the doorstep. Stretching, I caught my breath for a few moments as the others caught up with me.

"So, should we knock?" James asked, and to answer his question I simply opened the door, stepping inside without a backwards glance. The house was dark, but I didn't mind. I was use to the dark by now.

"Hell_o_?" I sang, making my way through the rooms. The place was a mess. Dust was everywhere, and the house was literally falling apart.

"Watch out!" Sirius yelled, pulling me back as a fair amount if ceiling landed in front of me. I took a deep breath.

"Thanks." I said before stepping forward, making my way down the hallway. At the left there was a small door, and opening it, I gasped. The room was filled with dead snakes.

"Merlin." Remus breathed as we walked into the room, ducking the hanging snakes, while I avoided the ones on the floor and tables, and walls, and ceiling, and pretty much anywhere else in the room.

"Look for something that could be a horcruxe, a personal item." I advised, but before we could start looking, the door slammed shut behind us.

**_DON'T FORGET TO REEEEEVVVVIIIIIEW!_**


	3. Ghostly Visits

**_Hey guys! So, I proudly present you with Luna Swift, Chapter number three! Hope you all have had a good day/night! I'll try and get posting more often! Also, I just want to thank for the reviews, and please, keep them coming! And if you could, don't favorite/alert my story without reviewing it! Thanks!_**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

**CHAPTER 3**

_Ghostly Visits_

**POV James Potter**

"Woa!" Remus yelped, moving out of the way as the door shut behind us. We heard an eerie laughing, so naturally we all turned towards Sirius, so he shut up.

"Thank you." I muttered before walking over to inspect the door. Luna stood next to me, her expression puzzled.

"I don't get it. No wind, so someone must have shut it. You think someone's here?" Luna suggested, and I bit my lip, thinking.

"I don't know. Honestly it could also just be an alarm system that they put in here awhile ago. It seems the most likely, and easy to get out of."

"Good. So, what do you- GAH!" Luna yelled, jumping backwards as a snake slithered passed her. Luna growled, shaking.

"What? It's just a snake." I rolled my eyes, and Luna glared at me.

"Snakes work for Voldemort, four-eyes. And there were a lot in Lestrange Manor's dungeons." She said, shivering, as the snake slithered out of sight.

"Well, it's gone now. Hey, lookie here!" Sirius grinned, holding up a ring with a black stone resting in the middle, some sort of symbol carved into it. Sirius made to put it on, but Remus put his hand over his, stopping him.

"It could be dangerous."

"But it's _shiny_!" Sirius complained, but Luna took it out of his hands, studying it. Luna frowned, turning it upside down for a better view.

"I can't determine anything. There seems to be a few markings here-" She said, turning it around for us to see. "But I can't find anything else."

Behind Luna's back, I saw a figure starting to appear, a shape of a boy who looked about our age. He had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, a few shades darker then Luna's. He didn't look solid, but he wasn't invisible, either.

"Uh, Luna? Look behind you." Sirius suggested, and Luna turned, gasping. The boy smiled slightly.

"Hello, Luna."

"Perseus? But you're dead!" Luna cried, and I frowned. That name sounded familiar. The boy let out a small laugh.

"Am dead, actually. No, you called me here." He pointed towards the ring, and Luna looked at it then back up to the boy.

"You're joking, right?"

"No." The boy said, and Luna smiled.

"I can't believe it, I thought I'd never see you again!" She said, and the boy put a hand on her shoulder.

"Luna, I'm always here for you, you should know that by now. I'm always watching too." He said, and he sent a glare Sirius's way before turning back to Luna, smiling sadly.

"You should go now. Don't let me die in vain, will you? Look for the locket. Keep that ring close as well, it's one of _them_. I love you, Luna. Good luck." The boy said, kissing Luna on the forehead before she dropped the ring, and he vanished. Luna sighed, turning towards us.

"We should go." She said, looking at the door. "How do we open it?"

"_WE BLOW IT UP_!" Sirius yelled excitedly, and the three of us sent glares this was before Remus waved his wand in front of it, muttering something under his breath. It shuddered for a moment before opening, and Luna stepped out, Sirius standing next to her.

"So who was that? An ex-boyfriend or something?" Sirius asked, and I saw something flash in his eyes. Luna started laughing, shaking her head.

"Ew, no way. That was my brother." She said before walking out the door. Sirius seemed to relax.

"Oh, ok then." He sighed, and Remus elbowed him in the ribs before catching up to Luna, while I stayed next to Sirius.

"You were jealous, Padfoot." I said, and he snorted.

"Ya right, Prongs. I just wanted to know. That's all."

"Sure you did. You're _engaged_, Sirius. Luna's gonna move on sometime. Don't forget that." I warned, quickening my pace as I walked down the hill, leaving Sirius with a confused and conflicted expression on his face.

**POV Remus Lupin**

"So what did you brother mean about letting him die in vain?" I asked, and Luna sighed, rummaging through the bag Dumbledore gave her.

"I'm not quite sure, but the more I think about it, the more I'm positive Perseus's death was used for a horcruxe. Even dad said he was supposed to die to help the Dark Lord survive. It makes sense, doesn't it?" Luna asked, and I nodded, grabbing the bag from her.

"Accio tent." I said, and a miniature tent flew out of the bag, landing in my hand. Luna smiled wearily, grabbing the bag back.

"Thanks."

"No problem." I said, setting the tent down and enlarging it. It looked impossibly small for even one person to fit in, basically a sheet propped on sticks. Shrugging, I turned to Luna.

"Your brother also said something about a locket. That could possibly be what form the horcruxe took?" I suggested, and Luna shrugged, scratching the back of her neck.

"I suppose. I really have no clue. I'm just shocked that I saw him.." She trailed off, jumping as James appeared behind her, Sirius a few feet away, looking quite puzzled.

"Oh, cool tent!" James said, walking inside. "LOOK! There's a fridge! With donuts!"

"I want one!" Sirius yelled, running inside as well. Luna shook her head, and together we walked inside.

The tent was at least as big as the Great Hall, and that was just the first room. Sirius and James were in the kitchen, and there was a table in the dining room with four chairs. Luna walked passed through an open curtain, then came out grinning.

"I call this bedroom!" She cried, and looking inside I nodded. There was a dark red bed with a beautiful brown wood frame, carved with roses. The walls were painted white, and it had several dressers, all the same deep brown as the bed. The floor was wood, covered with a fuzzy white rug at one side of the bed. I whistled.

"Nice."

"I know, right?" Luna grinned, placing her bags down and walking into the kitchen, shooing Sirius and James away from the fridge.

"You two are gonna eat everything!" Luna cried, half laughing. Pulling out her wand, she cast a small hex on the fridge door.

"There. Now you have to ask either me or Moony if you want to open it." She said, and both of them turned to me hopefully, but I shook my head.

"No way. Moonpaw's right, your going to eat all the food before we actually go anywhere."

"Fine." James pouted, sitting down at the table and yawning.

"What time is it?"

"It's one O'clock, Prongs." Luna said, and he nodded.

"No wonder I feel so tired, today's gone by really fast."

"It's one O'clock _P.M_., Jamsie. But your right. I, personally, am going to take a nap." Luna said, stretching before disappearing into her room, leaving us standing there.

"You look like hell, Moony." Sirius commented, and I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you Sirius, for that lovely compliment. I'm gonna take a nap too." I decided, walking into a random room with blue walls, with a cozy-looking warm bed. Laying down, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

**POV Sirius Black**

James and I just sat there for a little while, talking and joking, bored out of our minds.

"You think we should wake them up?" James suggested, and I shrugged, looking at my watch.

"Ya, probably."

"Ok. I'll wake Moony. You can wake Moonpaw." James said before disappearing into Remus's room. Grumbling, I carefully walked into Luna's room, staying low in case she decided to hex me.

Walking over to the side of the bed, my heart stopped. She was wearing a tank top, her arms and neck visible. The visible right side of her neck had several long scars, like someone had swiped one large paw across it. Her arms had several white lines down them, and around her wrists were small red dots, left over burns. She looked so peaceful, I didn't know if I should wake her up.

I was about to leave when I heard a cough, and Luna looked up, stretching, blowing her hair out of her face.

"Hullo Padfoot." She greeted, and I nodded.

"James said to wake you up." I said flatly, and Luna nodded, standing up, brushing her shorts off. At least her legs weren't scarred up. They were actually quite nice..

"Oi, dog boy. _Out_." Luna said, and I grinned sheepishly before leaving the room, rubbing the back of my neck. Outside Remus and James were watching me, smug expressions on their face.

"What!" I asked, and Remus rolled his eyes. James sighed.

"I do hate dramas, and we're heading towards the mother of them all." James said before going into the kitchen.

"What!" I cried, as Luna walked out, dressed in severely ripped jeans and a green t-shirt with hiking boots, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, and she put her hands down from her neck where she had put something, I assumed it was just to help with the scars.

"Well, where do we go from here?" She asked, pulling out a map and sitting down at the table.

"Well, we've been to the Gaunt House and found the ring which apparently brings back the dead. We could bring someone back and ask them...?" James suggested, and Luna bit her lip.

"I don't know, Prongs. Who could we possibly ask?"

"Er... someone he killed? Not Perseus, but is there anyone else we know he killed?"

"One." Luna said hesitantly, and I nodded.

"Who?"

"Give me a moment." She said, pulling the ring out of her pocket.

"I don't know if she'll help us, she's pretty tough to crack, but she might just know..." Luna trailed off, twirling it in her hands. A second later the form of an old woman appeared, and she looked around for a moment before her eyes went straight to Luna.

"You! How dare you! You must have nerve, calling me from my resting place!" She cried with a slight French accent, and Luna nodded, but her stare didn't waver.

"Bonjour, Grandmother." Luna greeted, and I gaped. This was Luna's grandmother. She had white hair piled in an elegant bun, wearing sapphire blue robes that made her look like some kind of queen. The woman had sky blue eyes to match Luna's.

"Please child, don't think formalities will get you anywhere. What do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms. Luna sighed.

"We're hunting for a way to destroy Vold-"

"Don't speak his name! That imbecile!" Her grandmother interrupted, and Luna nodded.

"We're on a mission to destroy _you-know-who_, grandmother. We were wondering if you had any idea how to do that, or where to go?" Luna asked, and her grandmother nodded.

"Hm. Well, child, if you had the nerve to call on me, then I suppose I should award you with some tidbit of information. Before my death, I was aware of some cup he had, some important cup that he gave to one of his most trusted. It was all that was revealed to me before I was found." The old woman sighed, before looking around the room.

"Dear Merlin, child, where are you? Some kind of palace? And who are these men?" She asked, and Luna grinned.

"They're my best friends, Grandmother. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and James Potter. Dumbledore sent them with me." She explained, and her grandmother sighed.

"Well, you better be dating at least one of them, I want great-grand kids!" She quipped, and Luna blinked, looking slightly embarrassed, when her grandmother caught on to something else.

"Oh, Albus sent you, did he? Give him my love." Her grandmother said, blushing slightly. "It has been a pleasure to see you dear. You will redeem our family name, child. Bless you." Grandmother said before Luna dropped the ring.

"So that was your grandmother?" James asked, and Luna nodded.

"Claire Esmeralda Swift." She nodded. "My father's mother. She was murdered by Voldemort after he caught her snooping around."

"Well, she seemed nice." Remus said, and Luna nodded, putting the ring on a chain around her neck.

"Tough, but nice." She agreed, and I smirked.

"So, what does she have going on with Dumbledore?"

Luna laughed, shaking her head. "They dated during Hogwarts, she was always sweet on him, apparently even after death. She's also the one that told him about lemon drops."

"Ah. So where do we go now?" Sirius asked, and Luna thought for a moment.

"I honestly don't know, but we should keep moving. Death Eater's aren't blind, and now that we have that ring, we're bound to be wanted." Luna sighed, slumping into her seat. Remus rubbed her shoulders, trying to distract her from the current mission while James and I walked around the tent.

"Hey! Check this out!" James yelled, and I walked over to see him standing in the doorway of a closet. Inside was a staircase, and further down another door.

"We can use that for transformations." Remus mused, and Luna nodded.

"When is the full moon, by the way?"

"Not for awhile"

"Oh, joy." Luna sighed, her head collapsing on the table.

**POV Luna Swift**

I hate to admit it, but I was _bored_. Pulling out my wand, I waved it around, and gold trails fell out of my wand like ribbons.

"That's pretty." James said from behind me, and I nodded, twirling it around.

"Most interesting." I agreed, drawing a rose before turning to James.

"This is gonna be rough, isn't it? We haven't even been out here for two days and we're tired of it."

James nodded, biting into an apple before speaking. "You're right. But we'll make it through. We've done it before."

I nodded. I had to give him that one. I was just sick of doing nothing.

"We should leave soon. Wake Sirius, will you? I'll start packing up." I said, and James nodded, leaving the room. A few minutes into packing, I heard a yell, and a soaking wet Sirius ran into the room.

"No fair James!"

"Didn't say it was fair!" James laughed, walking out of the tent. I shook my head, going back to packing when I felt a pair of wet arms pick up.

"Dang it Sirius!" I laughed, cringing from the wetness. Jerk.

"Put me down! You idiot!" I laughed, smacking him on the back of his head after he put me down.

"Go dry off, we're leaving." I grinned, and Sirius waved me off, walking back into his room. I turned back to James, throwing a jacket at him.

"Put that on, where's Remus?" I asked, and Remus appeared from the kitchen.

"Remus is here."

"Thank you, Moony." I sighed, and the four of us walked outside, shrinking the tent down before grabbing hands and apparating. We were almost to our destination when there was a loud snap, and I felt something disconnect.

I tried to walk, but I fell down, and looking down, I realized why.

"GAH!" I cried, looking down at the blank spot where my right leg was supposed to be. Remus gaped.

"Can I poke it?" Sirius asked, and I glared at him, leaning against James so I could stand up.

"I can't believe that happened! My leg is currently detached to my body, and you want to _poke it?_ I WANT MY LEG BACK!" I growled, pulling myself together so I could apparate.

"I'll be right back." I said, before apparating back to the village, my leg popping back into place.

"Oh, thank goodness." I breathed, gathering my breath before there was a tug behind my navel, and I apparated back to camp.


	4. Fun and Games

_**Hey guys! So I know this chapter came a day early, but that's because I wanted to wish my friend Abi, who is one of the awesomest people ever, a happy birthday! SO: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABI! **_

_**Hope you all enjoy the chapter, and FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS MAGIC, REVIEW! **_

_**Luv ya,**_

_**-Leyla **_

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter series, nor the marauders(Sadly). Gah, that's depressing.**

**CHAPTER 4**

_Fun and Games_

_**POV Sirius Black**_

I crept along the walls of the tent in the dark, my wand in my hand as I headed towards the kitchen. Turning around the corner, I jumped as a hand slapped around my mouth, and with a single move I was on the floor, a wand pressed into my back.

"Where ya going, Padfoot?" James asked from above me, and I groaned. The game of extreme hide-and-go seek was going miserably for Remus's and my team, as we both had been caught twice now.

"You get him, Prongs?" A voice hissed, and Luna crept over, her hair falling gracefully into her face as she walked towards us. James grinned.

"Of course." He said before standing up and I was sent back to base, otherwise known as Remus's room. Remus was hiding being the couch, and he groaned quietly when he saw me, looking at me skeptically.

"You got caught?" Remus asked as I passed him.

"Yup."

"_Again_?"

"Shut up or they'll find you!" I hissed as I walked into his room, counting to 60 before I could go back out again. After what felt like forever I creeped back out of the tent on my knees, sneaking over to where Remus's last hiding place been.

"Moony?" I whispered, and Remus looked over at me from where he was currently hiding.

"What?"

"Where are they?" I hissed, and Remus shrugged, shaking his head. Rolling my eyes, I continued searching around the room.

"Well that was helpful." I mused when I heard a dark chuckle from behind me, and before I could react something pounced on me, flipping me onto my back and pinning me to the floor.

"You're not making this any fun." Luna pouted, pinning my arms to the floor as she sat on top of me. I shrugged.

"You hear better." I protested, and Luna gave me a smug look, shaking her head.

"You're loud."

"No I am not!"

"You got caught again?" Remus hissed as he walked back from the place where James had got him, and I shrugged.

"Like you should talk." I grinned, and James appeared next to us.

"Ooh, got him again!" He chuckled before standing up. "Ok lovebirds, new game."

Luna rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to James and smacking him over the head.

"You call us lovebirds again, and I'll sit on you too."

"Oh, I'm so scared!" James cried mockingly, and Luna growled quietly.

"Be afraid, Potter. Be very afraid." She warned before grinning and turning to me.

"Best four out of five?" She suggested, and I nodded, walking back to Remus's room.

"You're on!" I yelled as the next round began. Remus and I let out a deep breath before Luna called from the other side of the room, "Scores reset! Let the game begin!"

**POV James Potter**

"Ready?" Luna asked and I nodded before slowly walking out of the tent, keeping my head low. Luna almost immediately blended in with the darkness, being that she was wearing pitch black jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt, her long black hair falling down her back in waves, making her look like some sort of spy.

I was creeping over to the other side when I heard:

"GA-_Oof_!"

Looking around, I saw Luna had already pinned Remus to the floor. Luna laughed quietly, standing up.

"Sorry Moony, maybe next time." She grinned, but Remus waved her off and started to make his way back to his base.

"Sure, sure." He grumbled as he disappeared. Luna winked at me before sneaking back into the darkness, when I saw Sirius crawling on his hands and knees towards our base. Rolling my eyes, I put my wand on him.

"Whatcha' doing?" I asked, and Sirius banged his head on the floor a few times before sitting up and walking back to base. Luna walked over to me, grinning.

"This is _too_ easy." She mused, and I nodded. Crawling into hidden spaces, we waited for Remus and Sirius to come back out.

"Do you think they're gone?" I hissed, and Luna shrugged when she got pulled back, a hand covering her mouth.

"Don't move or the girl gets it!" Sirius joked, and Luna rolled her eyes before ducking down, slinging Sirius over her back and onto the floor. Sirius groaned, propping himself on his elbows and rubbing the back of his head.

"Where did you learn that?" He asked, and Luna smiled smugly.

"Muggle techniques. After being held captive for a year and a half, you tend to want to have a back up plan if your wand goes missing." She shrugged and Sirius stood up, glaring at the pair of us before disappearing. Luna turned to me before groaning and I felt someone pin me to the floor.

"Thank you for the distraction, Padfoot." Remus said casually as the scoreboard gave a point to Team Moony and Padfoot, though Luna and I were still in the lead by three more. Frowning, I stood up and walked back to base, otherwise known as Luna's room.

Sitting down on the floor, I stretched my legs out when one bumped something, and I heard a switch as a drawer opened up, one that hadn't been there before. I knew I shouldn't have, but I leaned over and looked inside.

Inside the drawer was a photo of four people. A woman with long blonde hair and dark brown eyes and a man with black hair and seemingly black eyes, both of their faces pulled into unpleasant expressions, like they hated to be seen together, or maybe with the kids.

Sitting three feet away though was a thirteen year old boy with Luna's dark brown hair, and he had deep blue eyes and a wide grin, one arm around an eleven year-old girl with bright sky blue eyes.

"Luna." I realized. She had slightly tanned skin and no scars, her hair pulled up into an elegant bun. Luna was smiling happily, leaning against what could only be her brother. The two kids looked so different from their parents, that you thought they might have been adopted, unless you saw Luna's grandmother who shared Luna's eyes.

I heard light footsteps, and quickly I shut the drawer, leaning against the bed. Luna walked in, pulling her hair into a pony tail.

"You coming? It's been more then a minute, Prongs. Moony and Padfoot are catching up." Luna said, and I nodded, walking out of the tent with her and thinking about my latest discovery.

**ooooooooooo**

_**POV Sirius Black**_

The next morning I stretched and got out of bed, walking out to the living room to see Luna and Remus talking at the table.

"Morning." I greeted, sitting down and grabbing a bowl of cereal. Looking around the room I frowned.

"Where's James?" I asked, and we all froze.

"Remus did you-" Luna asked, but Remus shook his head.

"No, I thought Sirius did."

"But I thought Luna did!" I cried, and we all looked at each other before looking at the still stunned James who was lying on the floor.

"Oh snap." Luna groaned, trying to hid a laugh.

"I can't believe we forgot him!" I laughed, and Remus nodded, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Sure. You can be the one to un-stun him, Padfoot." He said, and I shook my head.

"No way!" I protested, but Luna shook her head, and sighing in defeat I stood up and walked over, sighing before pulling out my wand.

"Enervate." I said, and James jumped up, glaring at me. Putting my hands up, I smiled weakly.

"Sirius, back away slowly." Luna warned as James pointed his wand at me.

"Now come on Jamsie, I mean really-" I started, before I fell to the floor stunned. I heard Luna and Remus start laughing at the table before James turned on them.

"RUN!" Luna yelled, and I heard footsteps as Luna and Remus scooted out of their chairs, running from James.

"Get back here! I'm not finished with you!" James yelled, and I knew I'd be laughing, had I not been stunned on the floor. James walked over grinning and leaned over me.

"Next time, let's try not to forget that I'm stunned on the floor next time?" He asked before un-stunning me, and I looked around the empty room.

"Where'd they go?" I asked, and James shrugged, helping me up.

"No clue. I think they locked themselves in their rooms."

"Oh. Want breakfast?" I asked, and James grinned.

"Sure."

**oooooooooooooo**

"Everybody packed up?" Remus asked as we walked out of the tent. After everything was ready to go, Luna shrunk the tent down, placing it in her pocket.

"Ready?" She asked, and the four of us grabbed arms before we disapparated. We spun around for a few moments before landing in a snow-covered forest, the faint trickle of a river coming from the right.

"Where are we?" James asked as he dropped his bags, and Luna took the tent out of her pocket and bringing back to normal size before answering.

"Forest of Dean." She answered, helping Remus place protective charms around the area. James raised an eyebrow.

"Where?"

"Forest of Dean. I came here once when I was sixteen, after I left home." Luna responded, walking into the tent.

"Who's Dean?" I asked, and Remus rolled his eyes as he walked inside, followed by James and I. Throwing my things into my room, I sat down on the bed. Remus and James were sitting at the table playing cards, as Luna picked up her guitar, strumming it softly.

She played a few random chords before choosing a song, one I've never heard before.

"_Two AM and she calls me cause I'm still awake, can you help me unravel my latest mistake, I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season**."_ Luna sang, and I watched with interest as she changed chords. Though music was pretty, I preferred to watch people play it, rather then learn myself.

"Ouch." She muttered, and I raised an eyebrow. Luna shrugged.

"Calluses. I don't have them." She said simply, strumming the guitar lightly. I nodded, walking over to the kitchen as she kept playing. After a few minutes she slowed down before stopping, putting the guitar back into it's case before walking over to the table and leaning over Remus's shoulder, watching the card game.

"Ooh, nice." Luna said as Remus revealed a royal flush, much to James's disappointment. Remus grinned and Luna sat down, watching with interest as Remus kept kicking James's butt.

"Ooh. Jamsie, I think you need to practice more." I sighed as James got beaten for the tenth time. James frowned as Remus packed up the cards, putting them away.

"Hey, Sirius?" James asked, and I turned to him.

"What?"

"PILLOW!" James yelled, slamming me in the face with a pillow. Laughing, I grabbed the nearest one and swung towards James, who ducked, leaving me to hit Luna. Luna jumped, grabbing a pillow and wapping James on the head then me, while Remus watched with amusement.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" Luna asked, and Remus's eyes widened fore a split second before a pillow came crashing down on his head.

"Ten points!" Luna yelled before getting thunked on the head with James's pillow.

"Hey!" Remus yelled, reaching over for his own pillow. Now, I know what you may be thinking. Four nineteen year olds having a pillow fight isn't really that interesting. However, you've never been to a _Marauder's_ pillow fight.

"Where'd she go?" I asked James as we stood back to back, our pillows held in front of us. Remus and Luna had vanished. Until they jumped on us, that is.

"HA!" Luna laughed as I fell to the floor, Luna standing in front of me with a pillow slung over her shoulder. She grinned before James whacked her on the back of the head. Luna laughed though when Remus jumped out, hitting James over the head, and he collapsed to the floor beside me.

"Do you surrender?" Luna asked, and I shook my head.

"Never!"

Luna and Remus exchanged looks before smiling, and hitting us over the head. Laughing, I reached out and pulled Luna down while Remus was hitting James with the pillow. Luna laughed, wapping me over the head with a pillow as she hit the floor, landing next to me. She rolled over on her back smiling as Remus helped her up, leaving James to stumble around the tent, rubbing his head.

"No!" I yelled, whacking Remus over the head, and he fell to the floor. Luna looked down at him then back up at me.

"Uh.." I said, and Luna grinned, smacking me with the pillow. Falling to the floor I glared at her.

"We surrender!" I cried as Luna raised her pillow up, and Remus grinned, standing up off the floor and brushing himself off.

"Good." He said, and Luna winked as the two werewolves walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bucket of chocolate to celebrate their victory, while James and I plotted revenge in the corner.

Something weird was bubbling in my stomach though. I was engaged, I had a _fiance'_! I couldn't fall for Luna again. But after tonight, and after everything we had been through, old and new, I think that's going to be a _lot_ harder then I thought.

**_**This song is Breath(2 AM) By Anna Nalick! _**


	5. A Surprise Visitor and a Full Moon

_**SO! Here's the fifth chapter, people! And I really want to thank UltimateLoveStorys for that one, single review! I appreciate it! Also, I have a forum for Marauder's Role Play! If you're interested, PM and I'll send you the link!**_

_**Hope you enjoy this next chapter, and DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW!**_

_**Luv ya,**_

_**-Leyla**_

**CHAPTER 5**

_A Surprise Visitor and a Full Moon_

**POV James Potter**

I'd love to tell you the next few days were interesting. Truth was, they weren't. Luna was currently playing on an old guitar, Remus was reading, Sirius was taking a nap on the couch next to Luna, and I was in the kitchen, watching everybody.

"E...C? No. Em6, Em7, Em, C..." Luna played, trying to figure out the chords to a random song we had heard on the radio.

"Sounds good." I called, and Luna nodded, picking at the guitar strings.

"Thanks."

"Where'd you learn?" I asked, and Luna smiled.

"My brother taught me to play when I was eight." She shrugged, playing the chorus one last time before setting the guitar down and standing up.

"I'm gonna go find a market, we're running low on food. James, could I borrow the cloak?" She asked, and I nodded, throwing it to her. Sirius cracked an eye open.

"Did someone say food?"

I sighed, shaking my head and smiling. "Luna's going to the store, we're low on supplies."

"I'll go." Sirius said, stretching and standing up, pulling a coat on. "I need to get out of this place."

"Well, at least I'm not the only one." Luna shrugged, pulling the invisibility cloak over both of them and leaving the tent.

After they left the tent, Remus walked up, shaking his head. I pulled out a galleon.

"Two galleons say Sirius splits with Mary and goes to Luna before a year ends."

"You're on."

**_POV Luna Swift_**

"Padfoot, hurry up!" I laughed as we made our way back from the store. Sirius seemed to have the idea that every single puddle was to be stepped in. Pulling him over, we walked back inside the tent, soaking wet.

"Well, that was fun." I commented, and Sirius shook his head happily, making his way into the kitchen with the grocery bags. Walking over, I collapsed on the couch, tired. Sirius walked over, leaning over me.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Horcruxes." I lied, when truth was I was thinking about the last time Sirius and I went out on a date, not like I was gonna tell _him_ that. _That_ would be awkward. Sirius nodded before speaking.

"Liar."

"Fine! You caught me. I was thinking about..um..." I searched my mind for something. What? Then a memory struck me, and I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Apollo." I blurted, holding in a laugh. I hadn't thought of that git in years. My mother had tried to set me up with one of her friend's sons, before I became a werewolf, that is. Not that he knew. I had almost become engaged to him at sixteen, but then that one full moon came.. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Apollo?"

"The man I was supposed to marry a year ago." I shrugged, grinning inwardly. Sirius snorted.

"You, marry? A guy named _Apollo_? At least tell me he was handsome." Sirius said, and I nodded.

"Oh, yes. Very. Blonde hair and deep brown eyes, he was only a year older then me, too. Of course the parents arranged it, but he was still fairly nice. Very tall, muscular." I trailed off, not daring to glance at Sirius's face, or I may have started laughing.

Of course, Apollo was a conceited, pureblood maniac that went through girls faster then the speed if light. But if I told Sirius that, it would ruin my fun little game. Sirius looked conflicted between anger and interest, maybe a hint of jealousy. Oh, he was so fun to tease.

"Of course after I was bitten my parents broke up the engagement, not that I couldn't care less." I shrugged, and Sirius let out a breath of air. I smiled satisfactorily, putting my arms behind my head. Sirius looked down at me curiously, his eyes shining.

"You're lying." He decided, and I smirked, shaking my head.

"Nope. Apollo Chiren. Look him up, one of the richest pureblood family's out there." I sighed, standing up. I walked leisurely into my room, shutting the curtain behind me before falling on the bed.

"That was idiotic." I reprimanded myself quietly. "You're just gonna fall for him all over again."

Sighing, I closed my eyes, falling asleep before I could realized that I maybe already had.

**POV Remus Lupin**

I peeked through the curtain of my room, watching Sirius and Luna talk, James next to me.

"_What are they saying?_" He hissed, and I frowned.

"Something about a guy named Apollo."

"What?" James asked. "Like the greek god?"

I listened further and shook my head.

"No. An old fiancee or something like that... oh, the guy she was supposed to be betrothed to." I gaped, and James's mouth fell open.

"Luna? _Betrothed?_ Please, she wouldn't have let that happen."

I shrugged, watching as Luna walked into her room, shutting the curtains behind her. Sirius kicked a pillow, sitting down on the couch. I rolled my eyes.

"They'll have to see sense sometime. A pity Lily isn't here, she's the match-making wonder."

James shrugged. "We could call her."

"James, Dumbledore said Lily's needed somewhere else." I hissed, and James frowned.

"I know that. But still. All this drama isn't good for us!" He cried mockingly, falling on the bed in a mock faint. I raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you're right." I said, and James popped up.

"Then we go with my plan?" He asked, and I sighed.

"We go with your plan."

**POV Sirius Black**

I sat down on the couch, bored. Luna had gone to bed an hour ago, and James and Remus were missing. They had left the tent half an hour ago and had yet to come back. I suppose I should be worried, but...

"Hey Padfoot!" A voice said, and I jumped as James and Remus reentered the tent, looking quite pleased. Suspicious.

"Where were you guys?" I asked, and Remus shrugged.

"Just scouting the area, making sure there's no Death Eaters anywhere. Putting up spells and wards. No one can hear us or see us now."

"Oh. Ok." I said, opening the fridge. James and I had finally gotten Luna's stinking hex off of it.

"Banana?" Remus asked, handing James a banana. James grinned.

"Thank you, Moony." He said pleasantly, and I frowned. Something was definitely going on.

"Ok, what are you two up to?" I demanded, and Remus and James exchanged looks.

"Nothing, Padfoot. Why would you think we're up to something?" James asked, looking quite amused.

"Because I know so. Now what's going on?" I asked, and Remus shrugged, sitting down on the couch.

"Nothing, Padfoot. Nothing at all." He said, and I sighed in defeat. I would find out... soon.

ooooooooooo

The next few days were much the same. Both Luna and I noticed James and Remus were acting weird, and we were determined to figure out why.

"Hello, Moony." James greeted happily as he sat down on the couch. Remus nodded from the table with the same amount of enthusiasm.

"Hello, Prongs."

And it was the same everyday, and it was driving us insane.

"I swear, if they don't give in soon.." Luna growled, her eyes turning a soul-piercing silver. I nodded in agreement.

"We'll find out soon." I said, and little did I know we'd find out that night. I was asleep in my room when there was a loud yell from Luna's room.

"_GAH-_ WAIT! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?" Luna yelled, and we ran into her room to see her laughing with a familiar red head.

"_Lily_?" I asked, and Lily Evans turned to me, her eyes sparkling.

"Hey Sirius." She greeted, while Luna shook her head, still laughing slightly.

"Don't do that! I almost had a heart attack!"She laughed, but Lily waved her off.

"Sure ya did, Luna." She said, standing up. A second later James and Remus walked in, smiling.

"Did it work?" James asked, and Lily laughed.

"Oh, yes. I nearly gave Luna a heart attack, it was brilliant. The portkey took me right where I needed to go." She said, brushing herself off.

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, and Lily beamed.

"Dumbledore changed his mind, said it might do Luna some good to have another girl around." She explained, and Luna came up behind us.

"Well, this all very interesting, but get out of my room! A werewolf needs her beauty sleep." She growled, pushing us out of her room, though she was still smiling as she stuck her tongue out at us and shut the curtains.

"She's right. We can talk in the morning. Goodnight, all." Lily said as she took the remaining room next to Luna's . Sighing, all of us walked back to bed.

**POV Luna Swift**

A little while later that night I woke up to hear talking outside the tent. Slipping off my covers, I slipped on my shoes and walked out of the tent, trying to stifle my gasp. Outside of my tent was my grandfather, Fenrir Greyback and what looked like a few other werwolves.

"What are we gonna eat?" A man complained, one that I knew to be called Kyle. Yes, a werewolf named Kyle. Greyback turned to him.

"If you don't shut up, _you_." He growled, before smelling the air, and my whole body tensed, my hand automatically going the the scars on my neck.

"Do you smell that?" Greyback asked, and a woman from the right shrugged, and I winced as I remembered the last time I had seen her. Sabrina was like the Bellatrix of werewolves. "Smells like our last meal to me."

"No. This is different. It's a werewolf. Smells like.._. Luna_."

My eyes widened, and I took a step backwards. One of the werewolves rolled their eyes.

"You smell her all the time, you've probably just still got some of her skin under your nails. Now lets get going." He said, and Greyback looked around one last time before walking away along with the others.

Sighing, I fell to my knees, shocked. What if he found me? What if he found us? Everyone could _die_, it would've been my fault. It was idiotic, coming out here, he could've found us and killed us! I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and I let out a deep breath.

"Luna, what happened, are you ok?" Sirius asked, and I nodded.

"Ya. _Quiet_. Greyback.." I trailed off, and Sirius picked me up, walking back inside the tent. Setting me down on my bed, he smiled wistfully.

"You'll be fine. Try and get some rest." He said, and I nodded.

"Ya. Ok. Goodnight." I muttered as Sirius left the room, and I almost immediately collapsed onto my bed, sleeping.

The Next Morning, I crawled out of bed and threw a pair of jeans on and a jacket over my tank top and walked into the main room. Lily was sitting there with a book in her hand.

"Good morning." I greeted, and Lily smiled.

"Morning Luna." She waved as I walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and sitting down on a chair.

"Whatcha reading?" I asked, and Lily sighed.

"A book on horcruxes Dumbledore gave to me. It's absolutely horrid, it gives explicit instructions on how to make one, makes me feel like throwing up." Lily shuddered, and I grabbed the book from her, studying it. She was right. The instructions were horrid, and all of the sudden I lost my appetite, which is very rare for me.

Setting the apple down, I picked up my guitar and lightly strummed the chords, humming along with them.

"Pretty." Lily complimented, and I smiled slightly, though I still felt miserable about last night. We had almost been found and it would have been my fault!

"Thanks. It's a song my brother taught me." I shrugged, and Lily smiled as Remus, James and Sirius walked in, all of them looking tired. Standing up, I cleared my throat.

"We were nearly found last night." I said, and everyone's heads snapped towards me, all of them thinking the unspoken question: _What?_

"Fenrir Greyback. He and a group of other werewolves, right outside our tent." I grimaced, and Remus paled. I looked down, rubbing my arm.

"We got lucky he didn't totally recognize my sent, or we would've all be killed. I shouldn't have gone outside, I'm so sorry, we could've all died."

"Hey, it's not your fault-" Remus started, but I cut him off.

"I know very well it is, Moony. He knows my scent, I'm his! Of blood anyway. Fenrir Greyback is my grandfather. He knows my scent better then any of us! Heck, I spent the past full moons for a year and a half with him! If I'd been smart I would've gone back into the tent." I looked down, silence creeping it's way through the tent.

"Your grandfather is _Fenrir Greyback?_" Remus choked out, and I nodded, looking up.

"My mother was Ursala Kelana Greyback. She loathed werewolves, so as a punishment for her, he snuck up on me on the night of a full moon. His other _'reason'_ was because I was a blood traitor." I sighed, and Remus put a hand on my arm.

"It's ok, Luna, we get it. You didn't ask for anything to happen to you. But nothing happened last night, all of us are fine." He comforted, and I nodded, my eyes on the ground.

"It's awful, being related. It's like he's always there in the shadows, waiting for you to join him. He's been after me for years." I shuddered, and Lily put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Luna, relax. He will never find you again. I promise. Now come on, why not we go check on the protective enchantments around the tent. It'll be good to get some fresh air. Come on." She said, shepherding me out of the tent and into the sun.

"Things will work out, you know." Lily said as she checked the enchantments, and I sighed.

"I almost got everybody killed! He smelt me, Lily! If he had figured it out..." I looked down, and Lily wrapped an arm around me.

"But he didn't, Luna! Don't be upset over something that didn't happen, you'll only make yourself miserable. Trust me." She said, and I nodded.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop." I gave in, and Lily nodded.

"Good girl."

**POV James Potter**

We watched as Luna and Lily walked back inside the tent. Lily looked extremely pleased with herself, while Luna rolled her eyes, walking into her room.

She was only in there for a few seconds when she walked out, looking slightly demented.

"Lily." She started, her voice tight. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Lily grinned sheepishly.

"About what?"

"You know very well what! Come on!" Luna sighed, yanking Lily up by her arm and pulling Lily into her room.

"Oh, that's what you want to talk about." Lily mused, and I could hear a smack as Luna's hand hit her own forehead. Lily laughed.

"Please, your old clothes are still here. I just brought some alternate options."

"Alternate options?" Luna asked, her voice strangled as the two girls walked out of the room, Lily looking gleeful while Luna looked annoyed.

"I hate you." She said, and Lily beamed.

"I know." She shrugged, sitting back down on the couch with her book. Sighing, Remus walked up, looking glum.

"Full moon tonight." He announced, and Luna groaned, shaking her head. She flinched suddenly, and she ran a hand down the back of her neck, grimacing uncomfortably.

"Peachy. Just peachy."

**POV Luna Swift**

I crossed my legs, stretching as I waited for the full moon to hit. Remus was sitting across the room from me, looking at the door.

"Do you think it could break?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"Probably not. I'm not too worried." I sighed, fidgeting with my tank top straps. Remus sighed, leaning against the wall.

"How did you go through this? When you were captured, I mean. What did you do?" He asked, and I sighed.

"Moony, I spent my full moons fighting." I sighed, wincing as I felt something in my shoulder blade tweak, and what felt like a rush of fire ran through my blood, burning everything it touched. Gasping, I took a deep breath as the painful transformation began.

**POV James Potter**

Lily, Sirius and I sat quietly in the living room, staring at the door in which are friends were, screams echoing around the tent.

"They go through this every full moon?" Lily asked quietly, and Sirius nodded.

"Yup." I answered, and Lily shook her head.

"Poor things." She sighed as a howl broke through the screams, followed soon by another one. Lily shuddered, and the door creaked as the sound of paws shuffled in the basement.

"Do you think this is safe?" Sirius asked, and I nodded.

"It has to be, otherwise.." I trailed off, and Sirius nodded as the door jolted, as if something large had slammed into it. We all cringed as a painful yelp could be heard.

"Who do you think that was?" Lily asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"It could be either one of them. We'll find out in the morning." He said, and Lily nodded when there was a loud crash, and a mournful howling rang through the tent, so sad and haunting it gave me goosebumps.

"What was that!" Sirius asked, and I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I don't know Pads, I don't know."

**POV Remus Lupin**

I woke with a start, blinking as the room came into focus. Throwing my clothes on, the first thing I registered was that I smelt blood, and lots of it.

Looking over to my right, I gasped. Luna was curled up against the wall in a fetal position, her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Blood was soaking her clothes, her hair tumbling down her back. She had a large bite mark in her shoulder, and the scars on her neck had reopened, making them even more ghastly. She had a large bite mark around her ankle, and when she looked up, I saw a claw mark curved down the hairline of the left side of her face, from her hairline to her chin.

"Luna!" I cried, running to her side. Luna shook her head, tears running down her face. I kneeled down next to her, studying her ankle.

"Luna, what happened?" I asked, noticing that I wasn't to scratched up, maybe a few scratches down my arms but nothing more.

"I-It's nothing Remus." She stuttered, wincing as she touched her bleeding neck. I shook my head, grabbing her arms gently and helping her up.

"_This-_" I said, gesturing to her injuries, "This is something, you've never been injured this badly during a full moon." I said, but Luna shook her head, shaking.

"Luna, you're hurt, we need to get you bandaged-"I started, but Luna cut me off, her eyes flashing dangerously back and forth from sky blue to deep silver.

"Hurt! Pain! _Ha._ Stuff I've learned to live with. Not like... I had a choice..._no_...no choice...?" Luna asked sounding very dazed, sliding back onto the floor. In that moment I saw just how much a year and a half in captivity had hurt her. She looked broken, defeated, her eyes dull and filled with devastation and misery.

"Bandages.. What could bandages do for me, Remus?" She asked, her sad eyes looking up at me from where she was curled on the floor. I sighed, sitting down next to her.

"Luna, what's the matter?"

"It's none of your buisness." She snapped, her eyes flashing before going back to normal, and she slumped against the wall. "I don't know, Remus. I just don't know."

Grabbing her hands, I pulled her up to her feet and wrapped an arm around her, heading for the stairs. A very small smile pulled at Luna's lips she walked upstairs, leaning against me for support as we made our way upstairs, and I smiled weakly at the girl who I thought of as my sister.

"It'll be fine." I comforted as we walked upstairs, preparing to face the morning ahead of us.


	6. Healings and New Information

CHAPTER 6

_Healing and New Information_

_POV Sirius Black_

I heard a knock on the door, and I looked over as Lily went to open it. The door was only open for a split second before Lily gasped as Remus helped a bleeding Luna into the room.

"What happened?" James asked, and Remus sighed, sitting Luna down on a chair. Luna was emotionless, her face blank and her eyes staring into space, her hair falling into her face. Remus looked scared and worried as he explained.

"She had a rough night, I..don't know why." He said slowly, and Lily sighed, walking into the room with a towel and bucket full of warm water.

"How do you feel?" Lily asked, and Luna sighed, shrugging.

"Don't care." She muttered, and Lily frowned but kept working on her cuts. Remus looked worried, almost exactly like he had when Luna went missing. I had to hold myself back from hitting something. I didn't like seeing her in pain, and even though she hid it, her pain was obvious. James frowned, staring at the floor while Lily washed off Luna's neck, leaving just three red marks across the side of her neck.

"That's the best I can do for now, but you're gonna be fine." Lily smiled, dumping the water into the sink. Luna nodded stiffly, wincing as she felt the scars on her neck. Sighing, she leaned against the chair, closing her eyes.

"You feel any better?" Remus asked, and Luna nodded, opening her eyes.

"I'm fine, Remus. Thanks for the help." She said quietly, standing up and slipping into her room.

Turning to James, I sighed.

"We'll need to pack up soon." I announced, and James nodded.

"You're right. Remus, how long do you think it can be till you're ready to apparate?" James asked, and Remus shrugged.

"I'll probably be good in half an hour. Luna might need an hour, hour and a half though, I've never seen injuries from a full moon that bad."

"Ok. Then we'll leave in two hours. Lily?" James called, and Lily's head appeared from the kitchen.

"What James?"

"We're leaving in two hours!" He yelled back, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm not _deaf_ James, you're only four feet away, I heard." She said, patting him on the back before disappearing into Luna's room.

_POV Luna Swift_

I sat on my bed staring at the walls. They were a pretty color. An opal white, maybe. Sighing, I jumped when Lily walked in, looking at me sadly.

"Are you feeling better? The boys want to move in two hours." She said, and I nodded.

"Ya, I'll be fine." I told her, and Lily sat down next to me, crossing her legs.

"What's going on, Luna?" She asked quietly, and I shook my head, smiling slightly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." Lily asked, looking up at me, her eyes glowing with determination.

"Lily, I spent the _past year and a half_ of full moons with my sadistic, pain loving, fighting grandfather, who fought me every full moon. Every time, he would scratch, bite, rip, break, and, though I hate to say it, it rubbed off a bit. My wolf is split into two different personalities now, thanks to _him_. There's now who I am, and what he's trying to make me. And when those two personalities collide-"

"You get stuck in the middle. You fight with yourself." Lily finished for me, and I nodded.

"I can only control one part of my wolf form, thanks to him. He un-tamed my wolf, I guess you could say." I said, and Lily nodded sadly.

"Don't worry. We'll fix this. I know it." Lily smiled reassuringly before looking at her watch. "In the mean time, why not you start packing?"

I nodded, and Lily left the room, leaving me alone. Standing up, I slowly made my way to the desk and started sorting through my stuff, placing it in drawer's so it wouldn't get lost when we apparated.

Dressing, I changed into sweats and a sweater, throwing on my boots and walking outside to meet the others.

"Ready." I said, and we walked outside. I watched as Remus shrunk the tent and put into his pocket.

"Ok." James said, and grabbing on we apparated. Landing, I stepped back, looking at out surroundings.

We were on a flat space of land, and looking over the side, I could tell we were very, _very_ high.

"Ooh." I muttered, looking away from the cliff. Watching as James set up the tent, I sighed, sitting down and swinging my legs off the side of the cliff.

"Be careful Luna! Don't fall!" Lilly yelled, and I waved her off.

"Sure, sure." I called back, when I felt someone push me forward. I had a split second to realize I was falling off a cliff when someone grabbed me by the waist, picking me up and spinning me around.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" I yelled, laughing. "You're such a jerk!"

Sirius simply laughed, swinging me around before setting me down on my feet, at the command of an angry Lily Evans.

"_SIRIUS ORION BLACK!_ What do you think you're _doing_! You pushed her off a _cliff_! She could've _died_!" Lily yelled, and Sirius shrugged.

"It's not like I was gonna let her _fall_."

"That's not the point! The point is, is that she might have! Just- _UHG_!" Lily growled, glaring at Sirius before walking into the tent, before Sirius and I started laughing.

"Oh, she's so funny when she gets angry." Sirius mused, and I nodded in agreement.

"Very." I smiled before walking into the tent, my heart still pounding. Nearly falling off a very high cliff isn't one for weak hearts, I can say that much.

"You ok?" Remus asked, walking up to me and I nodded, collapsing in the couch. Truth is, is that I did feel a bit better.

"I feel fine, Moony, relax."

"Still, that was dangerous. You could've fallen." He protested, but I waved him off.

"I could've." I agreed. "But I didn't."

I smiled and walked into my room, ready to unpack my stuff.

POV James Potter

Shaking my head, I watched as Sirius snuck up behind Luna before pushing her off the cliff, catching her before she had anytime to start falling down.

Picking her up he spun her around, Lily still gaping before she growled, and Sirius put Luna down, both of them laughing. She reprimanded him before walking into the tent, grumbling.

"Stupid git, could've killed her." She muttered, disappearing into her room, following by Luna. Sirius walked up next to me, picking a bag up as we walked into the tent, enjoying the warmth.

"Prongs, catch." Sirius called, throwing me a bag from across the room before Sirius too disappearing into his room, while I started working on dinner.

**POV Lily Evans**

Grumbling, I unpacked my bags, throwing the clothes into closet.

Sirius was such an idiot sometimes. I mean really, pushing her like that! What if he hadn't caught her? She would've _died_.

Rolling my eyes, I hung up a shirt before falling back on my bed.

It was relieving to be here, to be with James, know that he was safe, along with the others, especially Luna. I couldn't lose her again, she was my best friend!

Speaking of Luna...

"Hey Lily, dinner is ready." Luna said, walking into my room. She looked so much better now that we were in a new place, it was almost a miracle. Almost. I could still see the circles under her eyes, and the scars on her neck had faded into a light pink. The scar along side her face had faded into a white crescent that trailed from her hair line, along with the shape of her face to her chin, but it should fade into nothing, eventually.

"Ok, ok. Let's go." I smiled, walking out into the living room. The smell of pizza filled the air, and I turned to see James grinning happily, a pizza sitting on the table. The four of us sat down, each taking a slice.

Sirius had already devoured two slices, while Remus was eyeing the pizza warily.

"So, you made this James?" Luna asked, and James nodded proudly.

"Yup."

At this, Sirius's eyes grew wide and he put the pizza back down on his plate, pushing it far away from himself. James rolled his eyes.

"Come on Padfoot, it's not that bad."

"No thanks, Prongs, I'd like to not die young."

"Suit yourself." Luna shrugged, picking the piece up from his plate and putting it on her own. Sirius glared at her, reaching for another slice.

"It's really good James." I commented, and James smiled proudly. Surprisingly, he could cook pretty well. Of course that was only pizza, sandwiches, and other finger-food items, but he got along well.

Remus nodded in agreement, turning a page in the book he was reading, the one on horcruxes. I grimaced as he turned to a page I had marked, and he spat out his pizza, going pale.

"That's bloody _disgusting_!" Remus gaped, staring at the book in horror. I nodded, trying to stifle a laugh.

"I told you not to read that while eating!" I cried, and Remus nodded, pushing the book as far away from himself as possible, and Luna picked it up, studying it with interest. She paled, but kept on eating.

"Ew." She muttered, shutting the book and throwing it on the couch. Remus stared at her.

"How can you keep _eating_?" He asked, and Luna shrugged.

"I've seen worse."

"How on earth could you poss-" Sirius started, but Luna glared at him.

"Maybe not the _wisest_ thing to ask, Padfoot." James advised, and Sirius nodded, turning back to his pizza.

"Good choice." Remus mused, and Luna rolled her eyes before standing up.

"Well, I'm full." She announced before walking outside the tent into the crisp late-winter air. I was amazed as Christmas and New Years had flown by without any of us realizing it, and by the time we had, it had been two days into January.

Remus smiled before standing up and walking outside to join her.

**POV Remus Lupin**

Pulling a scarf around my neck, I sat down next to Luna by the edge of the cliff, looking out at the sunset, a faint breeze passing by.

"Wotcher." Luna greeted, and I nodded.

"Feeling better?" I asked, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Moony." She sighed, and I smiled.

"Just looking out for you, you know."

"I know Remus. You're like the twin brother I never had." Luna commented, and I raised an eyebrow.

"That's a _good thing_, right?"

"Yes!" Luna laughed, looking over at the edge.

"That's a long way down."

"It is, isn't it?" I asked, and Luna nodded, shivering.

"I'd hate to fall down." She shuddered, and a question came to mind.

"So why weren't you angry when Sirius pushed you off?"

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. "I trust him, I guess. I know he would never actually push me off a cliff-_ purposefully,_ anyway."

I nodded, when there was a large snap, and I looked behind us, the smell of burning water filling the air.

"_Professor?_" Luna asked warily as the shape of a blue Albus Dumbledore bubbled out of the rocks, water bubbling inside of him.

"What is that?" I asked, and water-Dumbledore smiled.

"It's a new form of communication I've been wanting to try out, I'm quiet pleased it works well. How are you, Remus? Luna?" He asked, and Luna blinked.

"We're fine. How did you-"

"Find you? It's my tent, Ms. Swift, I'm able to find it at a moments notice." He smiled cheerily, and I nodded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to not sound rude. Dumbledore nodded, his water form pacing.

"I've found some new information I think might prove useful to you, Remus."

"Really! What?" Luna asked, standing up. Dumbledore cleared his throat before speaking.

"There's a cave near the water, just a crack in the wall. Yet I believe that is where a horcruxe rests."

"Where?" I asked, and Dumbledore gestured to a rock.

"In two days time I will send you a port key, it will take two of you where you need to go. Be careful. You can only take two people, and I warn you now. If it _is_ the place of a horcruxe, it will no doubt be heavily guarded."

"Thank you, headmaster." I said, and Dumbledore was about to leave when Luna spoke up.

"I talked to my grandmother, and she says hi." Luna said randomly, and Dumbledore blinked before smiling.

"Ah, Claire. Lovely woman. However did you speak with her, though?" He asked, and Luna shrugged.

"Uh, we found a ring that lets you talk to the dead." She said, and Dumbledore'd eyes flashed.

"Where did you find such an object, and may I see it?" He asked, and Luna pulled a necklace out from under her shirt. She had placed the ring on a chain around her neck, keeping it with her. She pulled it out and held it out to Dumbledore who studied it eagerly.

"_Amazing._" He breathed before letting the ring drop. "Do you have any idea if it's a Horcruxe?"

"Um, no, but there's heavy suspicion. And my older brother, Perseus said it was."

"Then it must be. Fantastic object, it is." Dumbledore said, looking at the object longingly before turning back to us.

"The port key will be in the shape of a pocket watch, it will be here around eight A.M.. I wish you the best luck, and be careful." He sighed before he started shrinking, the water bubbling back into the rocks. With one last smile he disappeared, leaving us staring at the spot where he had been.

"Ok. I think we should tell the others.." Luna said, and I nodded.

"Good idea." I agreed, and together we walked into the tent.

**POV James Potter**

Sitting down, I mulled over the information Luna and Remus had given us.

In two days, two of us would be leaving for a secret cave where a horcruxe might be. Brilliant. Sighing, I jumped when Sirius appeared above me, leaning over me.

"Whatcha' thinking about, Jamsie?"

"The cave."

"Oh.." Sirius nodded, and I heard a laugh from outside the tent. A second later Lily walked in, smiling from where she had been with the other two.

"Where's Moonpaw?" I asked, and Lily smiled, shaking her head.

"She's with Remus." She sighed, pointing outside. Standing up, Sirius and I walked out to see Remus stunned on the ground, looking like he was saying something '_matter-of-factly'_ when he was stunned.

"What did you do!" I asked, while Sirius worked on waking Remus up. Luna grinned, putting her wand back in her pocket.

"I was bored." She shrugged, and the two of us laughed before Sirius re-awoke Remus, and Luna and I ran for our lives, stunning spells passing over our heads as Sirius and Remus ran after us.

"RUN, PRONGS, RUN!" Luna yelled as we transformed into our animagus forms, running like the wind as the Marauder's ran through the forest.


	7. The Sea Cave

**Chapter 7**

_POV Luna Swift_

Taking a deep breathe, I opened my eyes.

Sitting up, I looked around my room. Today we were going to the cave, and I was.. nervous? Ya, that sounded 'bout right.

Standing up I walked to my closet, sorting through clothes before putting on a pair of jeans and a peasant top, slipping my hiking boots on. Letting out a heavy sigh I walked into the living room.

No one was up yet, so I snuck into the kitchen, quietly opening the fridge and getting a glass of milk for myself.

"I thought I heard someone." A voice said from behind me, and I jumped, spilling milk on the counter. Rolling my eyes, I glared at Sirius before grabbing a towel, wiping away the milk.

"Bit of a warning next time?" I hissed, and Sirius shrugged.

"Sorry." He smiled slightly, sitting down at the counter. Sighing, I leaned against the wall, thinking.

"Why are you up so early?" Sirius asked suddenly, and I shrugged.

"I don't know, I just couldn't sleep."

"Me too." Sirius agreed, and I smiled slightly.

"I'm just nervous about today." Sirius added, and I nodded understandingly.

"I think all of us are, Padfoot." I smiled when Lily appeared, dressed and ready to go.

"Good morning!" She said cheerily, soon followed by Remus then James, the four of us sitting down at the table.

"So, who's going?" Lily asked, and Sirius's, James's, Remus's, and my hands shot up into the air, and we all started laughing at Lily's amused face.

"Hm. Ooh, I know!" She said, walking into the kitchen, disappearing for a moment before reappearing with four sticks, only the tops visible.

"The two shortest ones are the ones that get to go. You first, Remus." She said, and Remus studied them before picking the one of the left. Pulling it out, it was thin and long, and Remus shrugged.

"Look's like you'll be staying here. Luna?" She asked, and carefully reaching over, I plucked one out, smiling when I saw it was small, like a toothpick broken in half. Lily smiled, though her eyes showed hints of worry as I retracted my arm.

"Luna will be going, then. James?" She asked, and James carefully picked out a toothpick. It was fairly small, though we'd only know for sure when Sirius picked the last tooth pick.

Doing so, he smiled happily when he pulled out a toothpick that was even smaller then mine.

"Well, there you go. Luna and Sirius are the winners, James, Remus, you'll be here with me." Lily smiled, and I nodded, putting the toothpick in my pocket as I stood up, hearing a loud crack as the port key arrived. Looking over at Sirius, I smiled weakly.

"You ready?" I asked, and he nodded, pulling his coat on. Lily walked over to me, hugging me tightly.

"Be careful." She whispered before letting go, and I nodded as I waved, leaving the tent and standing in front of the port key, next to Sirius.

"You think we'll die?" I asked, and Sirius shook his head.

_"Nah._"

I took a deep breath before we grabbed on, taking off into a swirl of blue light.

**POV Sirius Black**

Taking off into a flash of blue light, it wasn't long before I found myself standing on a rock, surrounded by water, a cliff just in front of us.

"Where the bloody hell are we?" Luna yelled to me from over the waves, and I pointed to the large crack in the rock.

"Right where we need to be. Come on!" I yelled, morphing a large rock into a boat. Stepping on, I have to admit it didn't look like the safest of rides. We gripped onto the boat for dear life as we sailed between the walls of the crack, the water becoming calmer, till the only thing moving was just the ripples coming off the boat.

We drifted to the shore, the boat coming to a stop with a heavy thud.

Standing up, I helped Luna up and we walked onto the shore, looking around.

"How do you suppose we get in?" I asked, but Luna was walking towards a huge wall in the back. She studied it for a moment, thinking.

"This is it." She breathed, turning towards me. I looked up at the wall skeptically.

"A wall?"

"No, idiot. It opens. _Look_." She said, running her finger down part of the wall, where I supposed a crack was supposed to be. With a werewolf, your senses were sharper and more accurate, and my best guess was that she was seeing something to small for human eyes.

"I don't see anything." I said, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"Of course you don't." She muttered, pulling a pocket knife out of her jeans, and I gaped.

"What are you doing?" I asked, wincing when Luna cut her hand, putting it against the rock.

"Blood. I think it's how you can get in, I smell old blood on the wall." She explained, and sure enough there was a loud groan as the wall split apart, leading to even more rocky terrain. Luna wiped her bloody hand on her jeans and gestured for me to follow her.

"This place is creepy." She muttered, and I nodded.

"Duh. Wait- watch it!" I yelled, pulling her back before she could step into the water. Luna looked down and sighed.

"Thanks Padfoot." She smiled, looking across the lake. "There."

Looking over, I saw a small island with a figure kneeling on the ground next to a basin, the Luna had apparently seen to, because her eyes widened in surprise.

"Who is that?" I hissed, when the figure let out a small groan, causing Luna and I to both jump. The person was leaning against the basin looking miserable, thought I couldn't tell who it was from this far away.

"I don't know." she whispered back, pointing her wand at the basin.

"Accio locket!" She said, but before the jet of red hit the basin, a figure leaped out of the water, blocking the spell's way.

"_Oh_." I said, and Luna nodded, brushing her hair out of her face as she walked around the shore of the island.

"We could try swimming?" She suggested, but I shook my head. I was not, I repeat not getting into that water. Luna rolled her eyes, still pacing.

"Come on- _OW_." She gaped, looking down at... nothing. She studied it for a moment before reaching down and grabbing onto something, and a small boat appeared, a rusty black with a chain attached to it.

"Let's go." I said, and we stepped on the boat, pulling our way through the water. We were almost to the island when we heard a horrible, window-shattering scream, and I watched as people, skinny, _dead-l_ooking people, rose out of the water, while the figure on the island backed away, screaming.

"Sirius!" Luna cried, her voice filled with panic as she took her wand out and together we stepped onto the island, but going different directions. Luna towards the inferi, and myself towards the person.

Luna yelled something inaudible, and fire shot out of her wand as she stepped onto the rock, standing in front of the person. Luna kept the inferi busy, while I dragged the person to the other side of the rock, ducking as a shower of flames passed over my head, fire swirling around the rock like a large storm.

"Sorry!" Luna yelled over the noise, fire surrounding the small rock.

"Are you ok?" I asked the person, when I got a good look at his face.

"REGULUS!" I yelled, shocked. Regulus looked at me wide-eyed, when I felt a hand grabbed my leg, pulling me down.

"What the-" I said, gaping as a ghastly looking inferi tried to pull me under, it's face pulled into a sickly smile, it's eyes, well, where it's eyes should have been were empty sockets, pitch black and unseeing. Regulus grabbed onto my arm and pulled me backwards, when I heard Luna gasp, another hand grabbing my other arm and helping me get back onto the island, getting as far away from the water's edge as possible.

"Sirius, are you ok?" Luna asked, and I nodded, turning to Regulus.

"Now, what are you doing here?" I asked harshly, and Luna turned to face Regulus for the first time, looking surprised before smiling sadly.

"Hello Regulas. Small world, isn't it?" She asked, looking up at the basin. The locket was under the liquid, a shell next to it. The inferi had disappeared for a minute, but I had feeling they were just preparing for round two.

"What do we have to do?" Luna asked, and Regulus coughed, speaking for the first time.

"Nothing. I-I already sent it away." He stuttered, and Luna and I turned to him.

"What?" I asked, and Regulus looked down.

"The locket. I gave it to Kreacher before sending him away, the real one isn't here anymore."

"Great!" I cried, pacing on the rock. "Just great. _Now_ how do we get it?" I groaned, and Luna slapped me over the head, turning to Regulus.

"At least it's not_ here_. Where did Kreacher go?"

"Back to Grimmauld." Regulus said, standing up, staring at Luna with wide eyes. "I heard you were dead."

"Well, you heard wrong, then." Luna shrugged, stepping back onto the boat, and I followed her. I was about to take off when Luna stopped me, her eyes glaring at me before she turned to Regulus.

"Are you coming or not?" She asked, and Regulus looked surprised.

"What?" We asked at the same time, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"You can't honestly think we'd leave you here, do you?" She asked, and Regulus looked at her with a weak smile. Luna smiled.

"Gee, nice to know how highly you think of me." She said, and I turned to her, keeping my voice low.

"But he's a _death eater_!"

"Then why is he here, Sirius? We can't just leave him here to die." She hissed back, and I crossed my arms, sitting at the back of the boat while Regulus sat down next to Luna, shifting his position uncomfortably.

"Let's go." I muttered as the boat started making it's way back to the island, staying as far away as I could from the boat's edge as we sailed across the lake. Luna turned to Regulus.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked, and Regulus shifted uncomfortably.

"I knew a way to destroy the Dark Lord, so I went for it after he used Kreacher to put the locket here, I realized what he was doing with the horcruxes, so I came here to get it." He explained, and Luna smiled reassuringly.

"I assume you didn't plan on almost dying?"

"If I had to, then so be it." He said, though he looked relieved. Luna nodded, and as we got to the shore I helped her off the boat, and Luna smiled at me before turning to Regulus, who was standing by himself over to the right.

"Reg, would you want to come with us?" She asked, and my mouth fell open. Is she insane? Regulus looked taken aback.

"Why would you want me to come?" He asked warily, and Luna crossed her arms.

"Where else are you gonna go? We're hunting horcruxes, Regulus. We have one already. You can help." She said, and Regulus thought for a minute before nodding, and I glared at my younger brother.

"Ok.." He trailed off, and Luna nodded, turning to the passageway.

"It's settled then. Come on, Padfoot, Regulus." She said, and I glared at Regulus before following her out the passageway.

**POV Luna Swift**

I could tell Sirius wasn't very happy with me. At all.

But what else could we do, leave Regulus to die? Smiling slightly I walked onto the small rock, taking one last look at the sea cave before turning to the portkey.

"Ready?" I asked, and Sirius nodded, shooting a glare at Regulus, who cringed slightly. Stepping forward, the three of us grabbed onto the port key and took off into the blue light that would take us back to camp.

I groaned as I landed on my back next to Sirius, who was rubbing his head. The port key was made for two, and it was a rough ride with three people.

"Stupid port key." I muttered, and Regulus helped me up. He offered a hand to Sirius, but Sirius just glared at him and stood up on his own, walking back into the tent. I rolled my eyes, turning to Regulus.

"Sorry." I said, and Regulus shrugged.

"It's ok." He said, when James Potter walked outside the tent, glaring at Regulus.

"What did you bring him for?" He asked, and I glared at James and Sirius, who was standing behind James.

"We couldn't just leave him there!"

"Well you didn't have to bring him here!" James said, and Regulus took a step back, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry, I can go-" he started, and I glared at James before turning to Regulus.

"It's ok, Reg. They're just being prats." I whispered, turning back to James and Sirius.

"He can help." I protested, and Sirius snorted.

"Sure he can. By _leaving_." Sirius said, walking back into the tent. I glared at him, trying to keep my wolf under control. If I didn't... I shook away the thought, as Remus and Lily walked in, looking confused.

"What's the matter with them?" Remus asked, before looking at Regulus. "Oh."

"Isn't this Sirius's brother?" Lily asked, and I nodded.

"He was at the lake, and we couldn't leave him there." I explained quickly, and Regulus shifted nervously, putting his weight on his left foot. Lily nodded in understanding before holding out a hand to Regulus.

"Lily Evans." She smiled, and Regulus shook her hand without hesitating.

"Regulus Black." He said, and Lily nodded.

"It's nice to finally have a proper introduction, Regulus. This is Remus, and I assume you already know Sirius and James." Lily frowned, and Regulus nodded hastily. She turned to Regulus.

"Come on, you can help me inside." She said, taking the 17 year old boy inside the tent with her. Remus turned to me.

"Why'd you bring him here?" He asked, not angry, but curious. I smiled, shrugging.

"He betrayed the Dark Lord, he needed somewhere safe to go, and we have a safe place to give to him." I said, and Remus smiled.

"Then I guess it shouldn't be too bad, having another Black in the tent. James and Sirius, though.." He trailed off, and I nodded.

"We'll talk some sense into them." I assured him at we walked into the tent.


	8. Small Spats and Invitations

**_Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews, I appreciate every single one! Keep them coming please! So, how you liking the series so far? _**

**_I hope you enjoy this next chapter, as it's one of my favorites!_**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Luna._

**CHAPTER 8**

_Small spats and Invitations_

**POV Remus Lupin**

The next few days that passed were tense. James and Sirius refused to accept Regulus, so whenever Regulus entered a room, James and Sirius left.

Luna was getting annoyed with their behavior, and truthfully so was I. Regulus wasn't actually that bad of a kid. He was usually in his room reading, and rarely bothered anybody. Lily had taken a liking to him, and had him help her out in the kitchen often, which he was surprisingly good at, unlike his older brother.

Luna had taken a liking to him as well, and they often went outside together, talking and laughing, much to Sirius and James's displeasure.

"You guys are going to have to get used to him being here sometime." Lily said, but James waved her off.

"When pigs fly."

So, naturally the next morning Lily released a herd of flying pigs into their bedrooms. A little while later Luna walked in, waving as Regulus walked back into his room. Sitting down next to me, Luna smiled.

"I think I'm glad I brought him with us." She mused, and I put my book down.

"Why is that?"

"Because he know's what he's doing, he's a good kid." She smiled as Sirius and James walked into the room. Luna turned to them.

"You guys are pathetic, you know that?" She said harshly, and both of them looked a little taken aback.

"Why?" James asked, and Luna glared at him, her eyes silver and her hair falling into her face.

"You can't accept that just because someone made mistakes when they were younger doesn't mean that they can't change." She hissed, and Sirius's face darkened.

"But he made a big one." He hissed back, and Luna let out a humorless laugh.

"Oh really!" She said. "Don't you think he deserves a second chance?"

"No." Sirius said immediately, and Luna's eyes narrowed.

"You're no better then he is."

"I wasn't a death eater!" Sirius cried, and Luna's face turned expressionless, her eyes cold.

"No, but Sirius Black, you know what you are?" Luna asked, and Sirius glared at her.

"What?"

"You're one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen. You can't even stand you're own brother because he _was_ a death eater. Ever think that maybe because you pushed yourself away from your parents so much, that you pushed Regulus away too? Here you are, the older brother, and you finally have the chance to get your brother back, but no, he made_ one_ mistake so you have to treat him like dirt! You're an idiotic, selfish, stuck-up prat Sirius Black, and you're no better then anyone else, including Regulus or _you-know-who himself._ Burn in hell." Luna growled before walking out of the tent, disappearing from sight.

Gaping, I looked at Sirius's shocked face. Standing up I glared at him before following Luna out of the tent, running over to her. She was sitting by the cliff, looking out at the sunset, a tear trailing down her face.

"Luna! What was _that?_" I asked, and Luna looked down.

"An older brother should always be there to help the younger one." She said quietly, and I sat down next to her.

"Perseus left because he was murdered, and I was left behind on my own, wishing everyday he could come back. Sirius is so lucky to have a brother, and now that he has him back, he's blind just because of one stupid mistake Regulus made, it sickens me." She said, and I put an arm around her.

"He's just being a prat, he'll get over it." I comforted, and Luna sighed, leaning against me.

"I miss Perseus, Remus." She sighed, and I smiled sadly.

"I know you do."

"I wish he was here, he always knew what to do, where to go, what to find. And then in the cave..that locket.." She trailed off, another tear trailing down her face, and she gripped the ring that hung around her neck.

"That's Perseus's horcruxe. I know it is." She said, and I nodded when I heard footsteps behind us, and I turned to see Sirius walking over, looking at the ground. Luna heard him too, because she stood up and walked back into the tent without making eye contact. Sirius looked up at me, his eyes sad.

"What did she say?" He asked quietly, and I sighed.

"She misses her own brother, and seeing you hating yours-" I started, but Sirius cut me off.

"I don't hate him."

"Could've fooled me." I said quietly before walking back into the tent. Luna had disappeared, and Regulus was helping Lily in the kitchen, while to my surprise, James sat at the kitchen table, watching both of them somewhat reluctantly.

Sitting down next to him, James shrugged.

"I thought over Luna's words and decided I might as well try to make an effort." He sighed, and I smiled reassuringly.

"Good for you."

James nodded, and I watched as Sirius walked back into the tent, walking into his room. Rolling my eyes I watched as Regulus and Lily brought out dinner, setting it down on the table. Regulus nodded before his eyes widened, and he ran into his room, coming out with a piece of paper.

"I just remembered! I know how to get the locket." He said suddenly, and everyone that was in the room turned to look at him, while Luna walked out of her room, her hand running down the back of her neck as she ran up next to him and looked over his shoulder, studying the piece of paper in his hands.

"A dinner party?" She asked, and Regulus nodded.

"Mom and dad, they're hosting one and I kept the invitation in my pocket! It's happening in three days. It's at Grimmauld, and if Kreacher got there with the locket.." He trailed off, James finishing for him.

"Then that's where the locket is." James reasoned, and Regulus nodded.

"That's where the locket is." He agreed, handing the invitation to James, who studied it.

"Hm...It's probably not the best idea, but it's the only one we got so I say we go for it." He finished, as Sirius walked into the room, keeping his head down. James handed the invitation to Sirius.

"Looks like will be visiting your house." He said, and Sirius's head snapped up as he read the paper.

"You're joking." He gaped, but James shook his head. Sirius groaned but nodded.

"I hate Grimmauld, but if it's where the horcruxe is.." He sighed, turning to Regulus.

"And I wanted to say I'm sorry for acting like a jerk, and maybe we can start things over." He said in one breath, and Regulus smiled.

"Of course." He said, and the brother's shook hands, and Luna nodded in approval before disappearing into her room, while Lily stood up.

"I'll get to work on the dresses. You guys work on dress robes." Lily said before disappearing into her room, beaming. The four of us looked at each other before shrugging.

"So...anybody hungry?" Sirius asked, holding up a piece of omelet before biting into it, soon followed by the rest of us.

oooooooooooooooo

**POV James Potter**

The next day I barely got to see Lily, she was so busy at making the dresses, I thought I'd never see her again.

"Lily!" I cried as she ran past me, disappearing once again into her room. Luna was playing guitar on the couch, while Regulus was sitting across from her, reading. Sirius was rummaging through the kitchen, and Remus was outside keeping watch.

"JAMES!" Sirius yelled, and I ducked as a can of soda flew over my head, exploding as it hit the wall. I turned to Sirius.

"What was that for?" I asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"I don't know, I just felt like it."

"Felt like what? Throwing something at my head?" I asked, and Sirius smiled.

"_Yup_." He nodded before shutting the fridge door with his foot, walking into the living room and looking over Regulus's shoulder at the book he was reading.

"Whatcha' reading?" He asked, and Regulus raised an eyebrow, putting the book down.

"Since when do you care about books?"

"I asked the same thing!" Luna shrugged, and Sirius smiled weakly at her. Since their small spat yesterday it had been tense between the two, but things had been steadily getting better by the minute.

"Can you pass me a soda?" Luna asked, and Sirius nodded, throwing one at her. Luna caught with ease before shaking it rapidly and throwing it back at Sirius. It exploded on the wall next to him, splattering him with soda.

"Hey!" Sirius yelled, wiping the soda out of his eyes while Regulus, Luna and I laughed.

"Sleep with one eye open tonight, Swift." Sirius warned, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"You wouldn't _dare_ prank me." Luna scoffed, but Sirius shrugged.

"Maybe...or maybe not." He said, and Regulus looked between the two.

"Just try to leave me out of it." He said weakly, and Luna sighed.

"Fine, Reggie." She sighed, and Regulus nodded, appeased. Luna had gone back to playing her guitar when there was a triumphant "Ah-Hah!" From Lily's room, and everyone turned to her door.

"WHAT?" Luna yelled, and Lily stuck her head out of the door.

"Oh, nothing dear Luna, just working on dresses." Lily smiled happily, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"Why did I agree to let you make my dress again?"

"Because you love me." Lily smiled before disappeared again, and Luna sighed, shaking her head.

"Something tells me I might regret this."

"Probably." Regulus agreed, and Luna threw a pillow at him.

"Shut up."

"Can do." Regulus nodded, going back to his book.

**POV Sirius Black**

I stood in the kitchen, wiping the soda off of my face. Luna had good aim, so now my entire right half was soaked and sticky, the worst combination ever.

"You alright there, Padfoot?" Luna asked walking into the kitchen, and I smiled at her.

"Oh yes of course, dear Moonpaw. I just have a little bit of soda all over my body." I finished, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"Probably cause you're not wiping it off correctly. Lemme see." She said, and I turned to her. She lifted a towel off and worked on wiping it off of my face, frowning.

"Hm. Maybe next time I'll aim lower, the soda doesn't want to come off your face." She mused, and I rolled my eyes.

"Peachy." I muttered, and Luna rolled her eyes, putting soap on the towel before wiping off my face again.

"I wanted to apologize for the things I said last night." She said quietly, and I nodded, wincing as some of the soap hit my eye.

"It's ok. In a way I kinda deserved it, I was acting like a jerk." I said, and Luna smiled grimly.

"You bet you were." She muttered, putting the cloth down.

"I think that's as good as you're gonna get by hand, so.." She trailed off, but before I could leave I had a bucket of water dumped over my head, and Luna set the bucket down.

"Much better." She decided, laughing when I picked her up, walking out into the living room and dumping her on the couch next to Regulus, who rolled his eyes at our antics.

"Dang it, Padfoot! I'm soaked!" Luna laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh ya, you should talk." I said, gesturing to my soaking wet self and Luna smiled sheepishly as I walked into my room to change and dry off.

**POV Regulus Black**

I watched as Sirius came out of the kitchen, carrying Luna before he dumped on the ouch next to me. Rolling my eyes, I smiled.

Remus and James had filled me in on everything last night after Sirius left, along with their matchmaking scheme, which I had instantly agreed to help them with. Not that Mary didn't seem nice and all, I really never talked to her much at Hogwarts for obvious reasons, but Luna and Sirius seemed like a better match.

Smiling, I put down my book and turned to Luna.

"What did you do?" I asked, and Luna shrugged.

"I dumped water on him."

"Ah." I nodded, rolling my eyes. Along with Luna being a better match for Sirius, personally I liked her too. She was the one that saved me from the inferi, after all, and you tend to like someone after that happened, and she had also forgiven me for the ball accident in her seventh year, my fifth, when the Death Eaters came.

Personally I wasn't psyched about the dinner party tomorrow night, but it's where the horcruxe was, and I had already sent the R.S.V.P.

Luna leaned against the couch, her eyes blank. For a few scary seconds I thought she was dead, until I realized she was deep in thought, and breathing.

"You ok?" I asked, and Luna looked at me, shrugging.

"I guess. Just tired." She said quietly before standing up and walking into her room, her expression unreadable. I sighed before leaning back into the couch and looking at my book, picking up where I left off.

**POV Lily Evans**

Studying the dresses, I smiled. They were perfect! Luna might kill me, but she would look gorgeous.

Walking out of my room, I saw Regulus reading on the couch.

"Hey Reg." I greeted as I walked towards the kitchen, and Regulus looked up.

"Want help?" He asked simply, and I shrugged as he walked over, rolling up his sleeves. The dark mark had faded somewhat on his arm, looking more like an odd bruise then a tattoo.

"Here's the recipe, could you work on the dough?" I asked, and Regulus nodded before going to work. Despite him being an ex-death eater, and my being a muggleborn, I had come to like him, and he seemed to like me, or at least I hope he did. He was helpful, and quite nice, and he knew how to cook, unlike the others. Maybe James and Remus could a little bit, but Luna usually ended up getting injured, and Sirius usually ate whatever he could get his hands on.

"Hey Lily, where's the flour?" Regulus asked from behind me, and without looking I pointed to the top shelf in the cupboard.

"Oh. Thanks." Regulus said, taking it down while I worked on the sauce. Pizza was a usual, as it was good and easy to make.

"Pizza?" Sirius asked, walking into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"Yes, Sirius, pizza. Just like we had yesterday, and the day before that, and then-" I started, but Sirius cut me off.

"I got it!" He laughed as Remus walked in, taking his coat off.

"It's getting warmer out there." Remus said, and I smiled.

"It should. It's now what- March?" I asked, and Remus nodded.

"March fourteenth." He smiled, setting his jacket down and looking around the room. "Where's James?"

"James is here!" James called, leaving his bedroom. "Sorry, working on dress robes."

"Ah. So- SIRIUS!" I laughed as a flour covered Sirius turned to me, smiling.

"What did you do?" I asked, and Sirius pointed to Regulus, who shrugged, looking up at me innocently.

"He got too close to the flour, so I might've shoved it in his face..." Regulus shrugged, and I rolled my eyes at the brothers.

"Sure. Sirius, why not you go outside and brush yourself off, you're getting flour everywhere. Regulus, next time use the sauce, kay? It's less powdery and it smells worse. Now, back to work!" I laughed, and Regulus went back to kneading the dough.

"What I miss?" Luna asked walking out of her room, and Sirius waved from outside the tent, brushing the flour off. Luna nodded.

"Oh."

"Ya." I agreed, handing the bowl to James so he could stir while I worked on the oven.

"So when can I see my dress?" Luna asked, and I smiled mischievously.

"Tomorrow when you have it on."

"But-"

"No buts! Tomorrow." I grinned, and Luna sighed.

"Yes Flower."

"Good girl." I smiled, pouring the sauce of the dough, putting the cheese over it and throwing it in the oven.

"Thanks for the help, Reg." I smiled, and Regulus nodded, wiping his hands off on his pants before walking back out into the living room. Luna sighed, grabbing a piece of cheese and jumping over the counter. She missed her mark though, landing on her back, the air knocked out of her.

"Ow.." She groaned, and James walked over, leaning over her with his hands behind his back.

"You want some water?"

"No you idiot! Air! I want air!" Luna groaned, rolling over on her side, curling up in a ball. She laid there for a few minutes before stretching, taking a deep breath.

"Gah, feels good to breathe again!" She sighed, propping herself up on her elbows. Rolling my eyes, I walked out of the kitchen as James helped her up.

"You ok?" He asked, and Luna nodded, rubbing her back.

"I'm good. A little winded, but I'm fine." She smiled, falling down on the couch, looking across the couch at Regulus.

"Whatcha' doing?" She asked, and Regulus sighed.

"Trying to finish a book."

"Oh. That's boring."

"Isn't it?" Regulus mused, turning back to his book. Luna stood up, stretching and walked into her room, shutting the curtains behind her.

**POV Remus Lupin**

A little while later I walked out of my room, well-rested.

"Hello." I greeted Regulus as I grabbed a slice of pizza despite Lily's warning of no pizza before it was time, biting into it and sitting down at the table across from Luna, who had also just woken up.

"Sleep well?" Lily asked, setting the tray of pizza on the table, and Luna nodded.

"Ya, ya." She answered as Sirius walked up, inspecting the pizza.

"James didn't touch this, right?" He asked, and Lily nodded. Sirius sighed in relief before taking a slice, ignoring James's offended face.

"Come on, my pizza isn't that bad."

"You make pizza?" Regulus asked, his surprise obvious. James sighed, grabbing a piece of pizza.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" He asked, and Luna nodded vigorously.

"Immensely."

"Impossible to believe." Sirius agreed.

"It's so impossible to believe it makes me want to laugh." I added, and James frowned, slumping in his chair.

"Shut up."


	9. The Ball

**CHAPTER 9**

_The Ball_

_**POV Third person**_

The next morning James walked out of my room to see Luna reading on the couch, still in her pajamas.

"Good morning, Moonpaw." He greeted, and Luna waved, her eyes still on the book.

"Morning Prongsie." She greeted, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Want some hot chocolate?"

"Sure, thank-" James started, but he was cut off as Sirius stuck his head out his room.

"Did someone say hot chocolate?" He asked, smiling. Luna rolled her eyes before gesturing to the counter, and Sirius skipped over to the counter, grabbing a mug.

"Woa, boy." James muttered, grabbing his own mug. Sirius grinned as Lily walked out of her room, beaming.

"Good morning!" She greeted cheerfully, grabbing a cup. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a baby." Sirius smiled, and Luna looked over at him.

"So you woke up crying every three hours for your mommy?"

"Nah, I was crying because of her." Sirius grinned, and Luna rolled her eyes, putting her book down and walking over to us.

"Can I see my dress now Lily?" Luna asked, but Lily shook her head.

"No way. Not until we're getting ready to go!" She smiled, and Luna sighed as Remus walked in.

"Morning."

"Morning." Everybody chorused, while Luna walked into the kitchen.

"I'll make breakfast!" She smiled, and Lily's eyes widened, and she hurried into the kitchen.

"No. You will only make breakfast when I want the kitchen to get burned down. Now get out before you hurt yourself, I don't trust you around the knives." Lily laughed, pushing Luna out of the kitchen.

Luna stuck her tongue out at her before sneaking a glance at Lily's door and sneaking over. She was walking inside where there was a loud zap, and Luna yelped, falling over.

"I told you not to go snooping around!" Lily called from the kitchen, while Luna rubbed her neck.

"THANKS FOR THAT, LILY! IT WAS A REAL _SHOCKER_!" Luna yelled back, when Regulus walked out, yawning.

"What's all the noise about?"

"Lily just shocked Luna." Remus shrugged, and Regulus nodded.

"Nice." He said before walking into the kitchen, while Sirius and James helped Luna up, jumping when she shocked us, so they promptly dropped her back on the floor.

"Thanks for the help, guys." Luna muttered, standing up by herself and brushing herself off. Sirius shrugged helplessly.

"What? you electrocuted us!" James cried, and Luna grinned wickedly, stepping threateningly towards them.

"RUN! IT'S ELECTRA-WOMAN!" Sirius yelled, and James and he scattered, running away from Luna, who shook her head and laughed as the two hid behind a curtain.

"Idiots." I rolled my eyes as Luna nodded in agreement, picking up her mug and walking into the kitchen, were the distinct sound of pans falling to the floor could be heard.

"Luna! What did I say about you and kitchens!" Lily cried, and James laughed as Luna grinned sheepishly and replied.

"To stay out of them?"

"Yes, Luna, yes I did."

_**POV Sirius Black**_

A little while later I stood in front of the mirror, looking at my dress robes. They were the classic kind, black with a white shirt underneath. James and Remus were wearing the same thing.

"_Hold still_, Sirius." James muttered while he transfigured my face. Being that I was disowned from the family, I didn't think showing up suddenly would be a very good idea. So now instead of my usual, extremely handsome good looks, I settled with dark brown hair and freckles, though I kept my eyes.

Stepping out of the room, I walked over to the counter and sat down, listening in on the conversation that was going on in the girl's room.

"Lily, I hate you." Luna said, and I heard Lily chuckle slightly.

"Aw, you don't mean that. Besides, you look gorgeous."

"It's _pink!_" Luna cried, and I could almost see Lily rolling her eyes.

"It's a _pale_ pink, Luna, relax." Lily sighed.

"But you look gorgeous, and you're wearing this pretty silver fabric!"

"We both know I look good in silver, Luna. You look like a goddess in this color, honestly. Look at yourself, and after tonight then you can murder me."

"Ok, so I do look good, I guess. But sleep with one eye open tonight, Evans." Luna warned, and Lily laughed.

"You don't look good! Luna, you are gorgeous. I've even charmed away your scars pretty well for the night, and that was no easy task."

"Fine! I look great." Luna sighed in defeat, before muttering something under her breath that I couldn't make out.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"Nothing!" Luna chirped, and I jumped as Lily entered the room, startling me. She was dressed in a silver strapless floor length dress that was beaded down the front. Her hair had been straightened and put into a bun, her green eyes sparkling as she smiled at me.

"Hello Sirius." She smiled as James walked out, smiling at his girlfriend.

"You look beautiful." He smiled, and Lily beamed as James twirled her around.

"You don't look to bad yourself." Lily smiled, when Remus leaned out of his room, holding something up.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled, throwing the tie at me. "Put that on!"

I struggled with the tie for a few minutes when a hand grabbed mine, pulling the tie away and re-wrapping it around my neck.

"Idiot, lemme show you." Luna sighed, and my mouth dropped as I took in her appearance.

She was wearing a very pale pink dress that was floor length with a low halter top and a very low back, that was sexy, but still modest. The dress was silk, and it shimmered slightly in the light. Her dark brown hair was curled softly and fell mid-back.

"T-thanks." I stuttered, and Luna smiled slightly.

"Anytime." She said before turning to face Remus, who was smiling at her.

"You look gorgeous, Luna." He commented, and Luna looked down, her hair brushing across her bare back as Remus twirled her around.

"Thanks Remus." She smiled, looking up. Remus was right. She was gorgeous. And I was starting to get the feeling that fate hated me. A lot. I watched as Luna spun around once more, the dress hugging her body perfectly, her small smile lighting up the room. Mentally I smacked myself. Sirius, you are an engaged man.

"Is everyone ready? Regulus!" Luna yelled, and Regulus walked out of his room, smiling. He was dressed in dark green dress robes, looking like the typical pureblood teenager.

"Er, ya." He said, and Luna smiled, taking Remus's hand.

"Let's go then." She said, and the two of them walked out of the tent, followed by Lily and James. I turned to Regulus.

"You sure about this?" I asked, and Regulus shrugged.

"Sorta."

"That's comforting." I said as we joined the others outside around the portkey. Regulus took a deep breath.

"Remember the plan. Remus and I are going to search for the locket while you four stay downstairs, and make sure to keep everybody downstairs."

"Yes sir." Luna mock-saluted, and Regulus rolled his eyes as we grabbed the portkey. We spun around for a minute before we let go, coming to a stop in front of the house, and I glared at it. I swore I was never gonna come back here.

"Ok. You guys ready?" James asked, ruffling his now-blonde hair. Everyone except for Luna, Lily and Regulus had been transfigured to look different, as mom and dad new Remus's and James's faces well. James had decided to go blonde, while Remus was now a red head with dark green eyes, going as Lily's brother.

"Ready." Lily sighed, and James and walked up to the door of Grimmauld, knocking. The door magically opened, and they walked inside, soon followed by Regulus and Remus, then Luna and I walked up to the now shut door.

"You do look beautiful, you know." I commented, and Luna smiled at me when the door opened, and my mother stuck her head out.

"Who are you?" She sniffed, and Luna's expression became cold and haughty. My mother would love her.

"Lunasa Swift, I'm a friend of Regulus's." She said stiffly, and mother nodded, opening the door wider.

"Come in then, Ms. Swift." My mother said, before looking to me.

"And you are?"

"Er-" I started, but Luna cut me off.

"He's Perseus Crein." She said quickly, and mother nodded, accepting the lie.

"Very well. Welcome to our home." She said, and we stepped inside. I had to keep my face calm as I walked through the old hallway, trying not to screw my face up in disgust. Luna must of felt me tense, because she elbowed me in the ribs discreetly.

"Loosen up." She whispered as we entered the ball room, sitting down at a table. We had only sat down for a few minutes when a voice came from behind Luna.

"Lunasa Swift?" A voice asked, and I turned around to see maybe a 21 year old man staring at her on awe. He had deep blue eyes and blonde hair, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as his eyes trailed over her. Luna's eyes widened.

"Apollo!" She gaped, before catching herself, and she smiled. "How lovely to see you again."

She wasn't lying, so many months ago. There was a guy named Apollo. And apparently he still had interest towards her, because he stepped forward, placing an arm on the top of her chair, his eyes moving down her body before going back up to her face.

"Not as lovely as it is to see you, Lunasa. What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, I suspect." Luna said calmly, and Apollo nodded.

"Last I heard, though is that you had become a_ blood traitor._" He screwed his face up in disgust, and Luna let out a small laugh, looking up at him.

"Me? A blood traitor? Don't be silly." She smiled flirtatiously, and Apollo nodded.

"I suppose. Would you care to dance?" He asked, and Luna hesitated for a moment before nodding, standing up and taking his hand as they walked to the floor. Scowling, I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. Bloody pure-blood prat, Apollo, pfft, what kind of a name is that? Probably an idiot.

Luna and Apollo danced together on the dance floor, his hand resting on her back, her hand clasped in his. At the moment I was having the strangest urge to punch something. _Hard_. Preferably a human face. Possibly Apollo's.

"Pad, you ok?" James hissed from the table next to me, Lily sitting next to him. I nodded, letting out the air I didn't realize I was holding in.

"I'm good." I muttered, and James nodded warily, running a hand through his blonde hair. After what felt like a very long time, the song ended and Luna walked back to us, sitting down.

"Idiot. I swear, he barely even looked at my face, the bloody prat. Sometimes I just wanna-" She started, changing her tone when Apollo walked up next to her. "Just wanna dance forever, because it's so much fun." She said, and before Apollo could open his mouth I spoke up, catching the look of desperation on Luna's face.

"You want to dance?" I asked quickly, and Apollo glared at me.

"And who are you?" He asked, his voice full of contempt. I glared back at him, and Luna stood up, grabbing my hand.

"Come on, Perseus." She said through gritted teeth before turning to Apollo. "This is Perseus. Close friend."

Apollo nodded but continued to glare at me as Luna dragged me onto the dance floor.

"Perseus Crein, control your temper. You were turning red." Luna snickered, taking my hand as a song began. I shrugged.

"He was getting on my nerves."

"He gets on _everybody's_ nerves." Luna rolled her eyes, blowing her side bangs out of one of her eyes. I spun her around slowly, and Luna smiled.

"Just like old times, huh? Hopefully this time we can get by without the death eater invasion though." Luna chuckled darkly, and I nodded in agreement.

"No, instead we're pretending to be ones."

"True." Luna nodded, when she looked behind me and gasped.

"Aw snap." She muttered. "This isn't good."

"What?" I whispered, and Luna pulled me over to a corner.

"My mother is here." She hissed urgently, discreetly pointing to a woman who was sitting in the corner, looking proud, haughty and bored. The image of a perfect pureblood.

"Oh." I muttered, and Luna nodded. The woman had greying blonde hair pulled into a tight bun, her dark brown eyes searching the room. She was wearing a dark green long-sleeved dress and was sitting next to my own mother.

"What do we do?" I hissed, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"S- I mean Perseus, I need to borrow Luna!" Regulus hissed, and before I could respond he grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her out of the room. Luna smiled weakly at me before she turned the corner.

_**POV Luna Swift**_

I followed Regulus out the door, stopping once we were in the hallway.

"What?" I asked, and Regulus pulled a gold locket with an 'S' on it out of his pocket.

"Remus and I found it. You need to put it on, since your last name is Swift you can pass it off as a family heirloom or something, if anybody asks." He said, and I quickly put it around my neck. Something passed over me, like a cloud of doubt and despair before I brushed it off.

"Reg, where's Remus?"

"He's with James and Lily, he's fine. Be careful though, since the locket is a horcruxe-" He started, cut off by a man's voice.

"Regulus." A man greeted, and I turned around to see a man with dark black hair and cold grey eyes, wearing dress robes that were buttoned up to his neck.

"Father." Regulus greeted in return, and I nodded slightly. So this was Orion Black. Orion nodded at Regulus before turning to me, holding out his hand.

"Walburga told me you had brought a friend. Lunasa Swift, I do believe?" He asked, and I nodded, shaking his hand.

"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Black." I smiled haughtily, and Orion nodded his approval. Prat.

"The pleasure is all mine, dear." He said before turning to Regulus. "Now get back into the living room, I think your mother was looking for you."

Regulus nodded, grabbing my hand and quickly pulling me into the living room. I stifled a laugh as I saw Sirius trying to dance with a girl who had two left feet, when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing here!" My mother hissed, and I turned around, putting on my best _'I'm a pureblood- kiss my feet'_ expression.

"Trying to enjoy myself." I said stiffly, and my mother's eyes narrowed.

"You're a filthy werewolf blood traitor, you should not be here, you are a disgrace!"

"I've changed my outlook on things. Filthy mudbloods-" I mentally smacked myself for saying that, but it was they keyword to getting on my mother's good side- "And muggles have nothing to give me."

My mother looked extremely taken aback, and studied me.

"I see. And what made you change your mind?"

"Mudbloods and muggles can do nothing whatsoever for me or the wizarding community. They are a waste of space, so to speak, filling up and destroying the pureblood society that once was. I fear I was sadly mistaken when I claimed to be a blood traitor." I said, praying that no one I knew had overheard me. My mother nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I am glad to see you have seen reason, child, even though your blood is tainted by the wolf. Perhaps someday you will join the Dark Lord, like young Regulus."

"Perhaps." I smiled cooly when someone grabbed my hand gently, and I turned to see Remus standing next to me.

"Luna." He greeted, and I smiled in relief. My mother looked at Remus questioningly, and I cleared my throat.

"Mother, this is my friend, Romulus." I said quickly, and Remus and my mother shook hands. Remus turned to me.

"Care to dance?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Sure. Lovely to see you." I said to my mother before walking onto the dance floor with Remus.

"Thank you so much." I breathed, and Remus nodded, smiling slightly.

"No problem. You're lucky no one else overheard you though, you said some pretty nasty things." He commented, and I blushed a bit.

"I didn't mean any of it! It's just with my mother.." I trailed off, and Remus nodded.

"I understand. Watch out, Apollo is coming back." He warned, pulling me more to the left to avoid him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Remus smiled, shooting a glare at Apollo. Dancing around, Remus looked at the locket.

"Be careful when you're wearing that."

"I will be. It's just a locket-"

"It's also a horcruxe. Be careful." Remus hissed as the song ended, and I sat down as dinner began. Orion sat at the head of the table, and I caught Sirius glaring at him. Sirius sat down next to me, and I smiled at him as Remus took the one of the left, blocking Apollo from sitting anywhere next to me, while James and Lily sat on the other side across from us.

"Where did you ever get that gorgeous locket?" Walburga asked, and I lifted my head up proudly.

"It is an old family heirloom that my father gave me before he died in service of the Lark Lord." I stated with mock-proudness, and everyone at the table nodded, all of them looking at me with approval.

"And your father was?" Orion asked, and I smiled.

"Fornax Swift."

"Ah. Fornax Swift, I remember. Good old pureblood family, goes back for ages, almost as long as us Blacks. Tell me, Luna, have you thought of marrying?" Orion asked, and I shrugged.

"I have had suitors, yes. All pureblood, of course. Nothing else would do, and I have yet to find a complete pureblood family, I couldn't risk being related to a muggleborn." I sniffed, taking a sip of water. Orion nodded, exchanging looks with Walburga before speaking.

"In that case, would you willing to carry on the pureblood family line with our very own Regulus?"

_**POV Remus Lupin**_

"In that case, would you be willing to carry on the pureblood family line with our very own Regulus?" I heard Orion say, and Luna nearly choked on the water she was drinking, setting the goblet down.

"What?" She asked weakly, and Orion nodded.

"Completely pureblood families are rare, and if you and Regulus joined hands in marriage it would continue that line. You are a fine pureblood woman, and we are a fully pureblood family. I see no reason for you to object." Orion said smoothly, and I gaped. Sirius was glaring at Orion, while Regulus had his mouth hanging open, looking in-between Orion and Luna, James seemed frozen, and Lily was shaking her head, her mouth hanging open as well.

"I-I well.." Luna stuttered before her face turned into a mask, proud and powerful. "I see your reasoning."

"Very good. Then we have a deal?" Orion asked, and Luna's mother was staring at her intently. Luna took a deep breath, and I realized she was thinking of a way to get out of this. Apollo was scowling in the corner, shooting glares at Regulus who was looking down at his feet, shock still etched on his face. Finally Luna opened her eyes, looking calmly into the dark grey ones of Orion Black.

"I must decline. I mean no disrespect to you or your family, Mr. Black, and you are quite right when you say that the pureblood line will have strengthened, but I am planning on devoting my service to the Dark Lord, and I must have no distractions that may get in my way, whether marriage or simple infatuation. My heart belongs to the dark lord and his ways and only to that." Luna said, and I watched as Sirius's mouth dropped open in shock that she would say such things.

Two years ago the Luna we knew would rather die then saying something like that, but this Luna seemed calmer, her words powerful and steady, no lie able to be revealed. Orion and Walburga nodded, when Luna's mother spoke up, and to my disgust, she was wiping a tear from her eye.

"Child, you have changed so much. So much devotion, just like your godmother! And this time to the right thing. I am so proud of you."

Luna nodded stiffly, and soon the table broke out into a small applause, and Orion nodded, looking at Luna with interest.

"I see your reasoning, Ms. Swift, and perhaps in a later time, you will reconsider out offer?"

"Of course." Luna smiled grimly.

"Nice save." I muttered under my breath, and Luna nodded, taking a small sip of water.

"Thanks." She whispered back as the dinner continued.

_**oooooooooooooo**_

A little while later everyone was getting ready to leave, and I waited my turn as James and Lily left, followed by Sirius, Luna, myself then Regulus.

"Thank you for coming, dear, it was lovely to meet you." Orion said, shaking Luna's hand before she walked out the door, apparating back to the tent. Shaking hands with them I quickly followed her.

Walking into the tent, I saw James and Lily laughing as Luna put a bar of soap in her mouth, her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall, frowning. Sirius was laughing, holding his sides. Soon Regulus walked in and started laughing as well as Luna took the soap out of her mouth, grimacing.

"I will never say anything like that again, ugh. The dark lord, my devotion! _ARHG_! Somebody, kill me now!" Luna shuddered, pulling her hair up into a bun. Lily rolled her eyes and pulled her into her room, while Luna put the bar of soap back into her mouth.

**_POV Luna Swift_**

Pulling my pj's on, I took the bar of soap out of my mouth, spitting it out into a trash can. Lily rolled her eyes as she hung the dresses up, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Oh yes I did." I protested, wiping my mouth off. "Pureblood speak leaves an awful after taste, I can tell you that much."

"Fine." Lily rolled her eyes again as I walked out, grabbing a slice of pizza from the fridge and biting into it, jumping as someone spoke from behind me.

"Hungry, are we?" Sirius asked, and I shrugged, taking the pizza out of my mouth.

"No, I just shoved this piece of pizza in my mouth because I felt like it. Yes, I'm hungry!"

"How come you didn't eat anything at the dinner party?" He questioned, and I shuddered.

"After the things I said, I decided it would be better not to eat, with the risk of it coming back up."

"Good idea, then." Sirius mused, and I rolled my eyes, leaning against the fridge.

"Of course it was, I always have a good idea."

"No you don't."

"Do too!"

"No you don't." Sirius countered.

"Yes I do!"

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don-"

"WILL YOU_ SHUT UP_? WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" James's voice echoed through the tent, sending Sirius and I into a small fit of laughter before we decided it was best to get to bed.

"Night Moonpaw." Sirius waved, and I smiled, waving as I walked towards my room.

"Night Padfoot." I smiled wistfully before shutting the curtain to my room, falling down on the bed and almost falling asleep instantly, dreaming about past memories of ball gowns and masks, and what it might of been like if it hadn't been interrupted.


	10. You Have Got to be Kidding

**CHAPTER 10**

_You have got to be kidding_

_**POV Sirius Black**_

The next morning I walked out of my room to see Regulus in the kitchen, James on the couch, and then Luna sitting on the counter while Lily wrapped a bandage around her hand.

"You go in the kitchen again?" I asked, and Luna grinned sheepishly before flinching, her hand going to the back of her neck and rubbing it uncomfortably, but she was still grinning.

"Yup."

"Ouch." I muttered, looking at the burn on her hand before grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down next to James on the couch.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, and James frowned, running a hand through his hair.

"Trying to add up where the next Horcruxe would be."

"Ah."

"Speaking of which... Luna?" Regulus asked, and Luna pulled a gold chain out from under her shirt, the locket hanging around her neck.

"Got it. Then the ring is on my desk."

"Sirius, go get the ring." James said, and I nodded.

"Sirius will go get the ring!" I beamed, walking into Luna's room and walking over to her desk. It was a deep brown wood, carved beautifully with a mirror built in. Sitting down on the chair, I was grabbing the ring when something caught my eye.

It was a photo of Luna, James, Remus and I after our graduation. Remus and James were waving at the camera on either side of me, like book ends while Luna was on my back, smiling, her blue eyes shining. I was holding onto her, waving as well. I smiled at the memory before standing up and walking out, the ring in my hand.

"Got it." I said, and James snorted.

"Took you long enough."

"Just take the bloody ring, James." I said, setting it down on the table next to the locket. Staring at them,I voiced the thoughts everyone else was thinking.

"What's up with You-know-who and jewelry?"

"No clue." James responded, and I snorted.

"What's gonna be next? A fluffy pink _unicorn_? Or why not a _diary _and a_ tiara_?" I suggested, and Luna bent her head down, her shoulders shaking from the silent laughter while Regulus looked at me thoughtfully.

"Possibly."

"Yes, I'm sure that's exactly what he would go for." I muttered, and Regulus picked up the locket, studying it when he suddenly dropped it, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh."

"What?" Luna asked, and Regulus started stuttering, trying to get the words out.

"The next horcruxe is at Gringotts." He finally managed, and I raised an eyebrow at my little brother.

"What!" James cried, and Regulus nodded, sitting down.

"Mom, she mentioned something about how You-know-who had given a priceless and important object for his most trusted to keep in their Gringotts account." He said, and Luna's eyes widened.

"Most trusted?" She asked, and Regulus nodded solemnly.

"But that would mean-" She cut off, looking sick. "You don't really think-?"

"It has to be." Regulus sighed.

"But they're in prison!"

"But their account isn't."

"But to get into it-

"Then they must be-

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Do we have to?"

"We must."

"This sucks."

"It does." Regulus agreed, and James looked in between the two of them, frowning.

"Planning on keying us in anytime soon?" James asked, and Luna looked at him, looking dazed while Regulus spoke up.

"We think the next horcruxe is in Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault."

"No!" Lily gaped, and Luna sighed, standing up.

"I wish it wasn't true, but it must be. I don't get how he could've gotten the object into the vault without- no." Luna gaped, her eyes widening in horror. Regulus frowned before speaking.

"It seems that the Lestrange's are no longer in Azkaban."

**_POV Lily Evans_**

I watched as Luna's face became bleach white, losing all color. Even her normally brilliant sky blue eyes seemed to pale and fade, her hands shaking.

"No." She whispered quietly, closing her eyes. It seemed I was the only one to notice her, because the others were all looking down at the floor in shock. Walking over to Luna, I grabbed her hands, steadying them.

"Luna, it's ok." I soothed, and Luna nodded, her body trembling.

"They can't be out. They shouldn't be out. They can not be out of Azkaban." She said quietly, opening her eyes. Her eyes had gone from blue to silver, and had that look in them, like a wild animal trapped in a cage.

"Shh, calm down. Nothing can hurt you." I said, and Luna looked up at me, her eyes burning as she jerked her hands away from me.

"Don't lie." She said through gritted teeth, and I realized her hands were tracing the patterns of her scars. A small tear fell down her face, and before I could say a word she disappeared into her room, causing the boys's heads to snap up.

"Why's Luna upset?" Sirius asked immediately, and I sighed, sitting down on the couch.

"The Lestrange's -Bellatrix- are out of Azkaban. Almost every scar Luna has is probably from her, them. She's been tortured and abused by those people, and now they're out. They're free, and Luna is probably top on their hit list." I said, biting my lip before continuing.

"Sirius, don't think that just because she doesn't show it means she doesn't carry more then just scars. She was beaten and broken. Not just her body, but also her spirit. You saw how she was after the full moon. Now that they're out, Luna is probably distraught." I finished, and everyone sat in silence before Sirius stood up and bolted to Luna's room, quietly walking inside.

_**POV Sirius Black**_

Walking into Luna's room, I quietly approached Luna, who was lying on her side on her bed and looking at the wall, her face expressionless except for her eyes, which flashed silver every now and then, going back and forth from angry to scared.

"Luna?" I asked quietly, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Luna's silver eyes looked towards me, dull and helpless, her body shaking. I hesitated for a moment before sitting next to her, wrapping an arm around her comfortingly.

"It's gonna be ok." I comforted, and Luna's eyes flashed before she closed them, her trembling becoming worse.

"T-t-they don't deserve to b-be out. T-the things that they've d-d-done...I'm _scared_, Sirius." Luna sighed, and I nodded in understanding, my arms tightening slightly around her. No one, is going to hurt her. Otherwise I will kill them with a cheerful smile on my face.

"You're safe here."

"Nowhere's safe anymore, Sirius." Luna said, her voice sounding dead sure. I nodded, and Luna let out a heavy sigh.

"Things will work out, you know." I smiled slightly, but Luna shook her head, and something flashed in her eyes.

"Not for me, no."

"And why do you think that?" I asked, and Luna sighed, now look more depressed then angry.

"It doesn't matter. Really." She added, catching onto the look I gave her. Something was upsetting her. She's usually good at hiding her emotions, I've noticed, but at the moment I was able to read her like an open book.

"What's the matter?" I asked, and Luna smiled grimly, looking at me.

"It's nothing, Sirius. I promise. Nothing I can avoid, anyway, and talking about it just makes it worse." She stated, and I nodded, deciding to keep quite even though curiosity was nagging at me. Sighing, I looked up at the ceiling.

"I know this is sorta personal, but how did you live? What kept you alive for a year and a half in those conditions?" I asked, and Luna's shrugged.

"I really don't like to talk about it, but if you wanna know, it was my past, I think. Of all those years spent in strict world, and after leaving Hogwarts, my life had just started, and I was free. I wasn't gonna let my life end all so soon, even in the..position I was in, and what I went through. And I wouldn't kill myself. It was tempting, though." Luna's voice changed from normal to a quite whisper.

"Always tempting. I could've...but I wanted to be brave, nobel. A hero. Everyone wants to think they can be brave, lay down their lives for others, endure pain. But after that first day...death looks welcoming. Pleasant. No more _pain_.." Luna sighed, and I held her closer, her words worrying me.

"I'm glad you didn't. You got out in the end, remember?" I asked, and Luna nodded slightly, her eyes still on the ceiling.

"Barely. It took a lot of energy just to stand up, much less duel. I was lucky, for maybe the first time in my life." Luna said, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Raising an eyebrow, I adjusted my position so I was on my back, one arm around Luna and another behind my head. I was about to speak when something caught my eye, something that was on the back of her neck.

"Luna, what's that?"

Luna looked at me confused before her hand went to the back her neck, her eyes flashing.

"Nothing." She said quickly, but I shook my head, reaching over to move her hand.

"No, that's something." I muttered, but Luna shook her head, keeping a hand clamped over her neck.

"Don't bother-" She started, but quickly I grabbed her, turning her around gently and moving her hand so I could see.

"Sirius, it's nothing-" Luna started, and I cut her off, eyeing the silver 'W' that was etched into her skin, like some sort of tattoo. The silver glistened slightly in the light, the skin around it pale and smooth, except for a thin red line around the 'W'.

"What is that?" I asked through gritted teeth, and Luna reluctantly turned to me, keeping her eyes down. She stayed silent for a moment before speaking.

"It's a reminder." She said slowly, before continuing. "A reminder of what I've been through and what I am."

"What's that?" I asked stupidly, and Luna's eyes flashed dangerously, and she sat up, her eyes practically glowing silver to match the 'W' on her neck.

"That I'm a stinking, no good, filthy werewolf, that's what. You want to hear about what else it stands for? Trust me, I was told what I was. I was told what I was forever going to be. I have a list of things that they said it stood for, the first one starting with a worthless werewolf with no life or future. It's a permanent reminder, visible to everyone! That I'm damned because my fleabag of a grandfather decided to teach me a lesson one full moon, that I'll always be frowned upon, shunned from society! That I have haunting dreams and memories that I can't tell anyone, that I'll always be _alone_." Luna's voice broke, but she continued.

"It burns. It's not only on the surface, it's in my blood system. So it burns often. Just flashes, maybe once or twice a day. But it burns like hell when it does." She muttered, and looking back I realized that's why she ran her hand down the back of her neck so often, usually after she flinched. It's when it burned. She was being hurt right in front of my eyes and I didn't notice. _Stupid, stupid, stupid..._

"It can't kill you, right?" I asked, and Luna's eyes flashed. She bit her lip before answering.

"Uh, no. It's just uncomfortable."

"We could try to remove it?" I suggested, and Luna shook her head, her hand falling in her lap.

"No good. Sirius, why not you just go? Please." Luna's voice broke again, and I nodded before leaving the room with a heavy heart. Walking out of the tent James turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatcha' been up to in there? You've been in there for an hour." He said, the smile falling off his face as he looked at mine.

"What happened?" James asked, and I shrugged, sitting down across from him.

"She's taking it really bad, James. I don't know what to do." I sighed, and James put a hand on my shoulder.

"Do what you need to. You almost always- well, occasionally end up doing the right thing. She just needs time. Being that the Lestrange's, Bellatrix, are now out of jail and walking around, she must feel like she'll fall back into their hands. Helpless, unsafe, cornered, even. She just needs time and comfort. Of course, we'll be robbing Gringotts soon, but we can work through that." James smiled reassuringly, and I smiled back at him. James always helped, and I don't know what I'd do without him.

_**POV Remus Lupin**_

Walking out of my room, I looked around the tent. Sirius, Regulus and James were sitting at the table over a piece of paper, looking puzzled. Luna was leaning against the counter with a calming potion in her hand.

"What's going on?" I asked, and Sirius turned to me.

"We're trying to find a strategy on how to break into Gringotts." He said simply, and I nodded.

"Ah."

"It's sounding hopeless, the way these three plan." Lily rolled her eyes, and James shrugged.

"If there was someway to impersonate them, then we might have a chance. Of course, there are the barriers, and any disguise could be revealed." Regulus sighed, and I jumped as Luna's voice spoke behind me.

"Can you get in through blood relation?" She asked, and Regulus thought for a moment, his expression thoughtful.

"It's a possibility, why?"

"Well, wouldn't you be able to go to the vault?"

Regulus shrugged. "Possibly. Obviously they haven't heard of my betrayal, because I wasn't found out at the dinner party, but that was three days ago. Of course, they could always have special charms put on it, so only they would be able to enter it."

"We could use Polyjuice potion?" James suggested.

"Yes, but who will we impersonate? We don't have any of their hair." Lily reminded him, and James frowned.

"Oh ya."

"We could transfigure somebody?" Sirius suggested, and Regulus shrugged.

"It would have to be well done, though. But possible. James, you're good at transfiguration, right?" Regulus asked, turning to James. James grinned, nodding.

"Yup."

"Then we have a plan. Luna, you can be trans-" Regulus started, but Luna shook her head.

"No thanks, Reg. I will not go masquerading around as _her_. Besides, my scars would give me away, they can be tamed, but there's no way of getting rid of them all together." Luna sighed, and Regulus nodded, turning to Lily.

"Then it looks like you'll be our Bellatrix." He decided, and Lily nodded excitedly.

"Sure." She smiled, and Regulus smiled back slightly before continuing with the plan.

"And then you can be Rodolphus, Remus. Your scars aren't too bad, so James can probably transfigure over them." He said, and I shrugged.

"Sure."

"What about the four of us, though?" Luna asked, and Sirius nodded in agreement. Regulus smiled.

"I'll go with Remus and Lily as I am, while you four can hide under the cloak." Regulus summed up, and Luna shrugged.

"Ok, sounds good. Now that we have that all figured out, I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll be back later." Luna muttered before grabbing a jacket and walking outside into the crisp air. Sirius sighed, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I bet she's checking the concealment charms." Lily mused, and I nodded in agreement, looking sadly after her. She was upset, that was obvious. We all stayed silent for a minute before James spoke.

"So when should we go?"

"Two days might be best. The sooner the better." Regulus decided, and everyone nodded or muttered their agreement before splitting apart, each person going in a different direction, while I decided to follow Luna.

Grabbing a coat, I quickly and quietly made my way through the forest, avoiding fallen branches or doing anything that would give me away. Luna was sitting by a small creek, wading in the water. She had taken her jacket off, so she was wearing a tank top and shorts, up to her waist in the water.

"Oh, the mess you've gotten yourself into." Luna sighed, and for a moment I thought she was talking to me, before she sighed, and I realized she was talking to herself. I heard a small crack of a branch as a deer passed by, and Luna turned towards me, her eyes searching the forest.

Now I know some you may think that 'spying on a girl' is bad, but I only did followed her because A. I didn't know she was going swimming, and 2. I'm worried about her. She seems depressed a lot.

"Hm." Luna muttered, turning back to wading in the water before she went under, disappearing from sight. I was about to go in after her to make sure she was ok when her head popped out of the water, staring right at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Hello, Moony."

"Er, hi?" I smiled, and Luna laughed slightly, standing up.

"Next time when you try to follow me, stay downwind. I could smell you, goofball." Luna grinned, floating on her back for a minute before standing up and walking out of the water, wiping herself off with her jacket.

"Nice try, though." Luna commented as we walked back up to the tent and stepping inside. Luna put a new jacket over her now-dry clothes, her hair falling in waves down her back as she walked into the living room, falling down on the couch.

"Remus?" Luna asked suddenly, and I looked at her.

"What?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being someone I can depend on." Luna said seriously, and I smiled.

"Anytime, Luna."

"Remus?"

"What?"

"Can I depend on you to get me soda?"

"No."

**_A/N: Ok, so I know that chapter is kinda dark, but if you look at it there's a bit of Luna/Sirius in it. We're just heading into a darker part of the story, so you can't say I didn't warn ya! _**

**_I LOVE all of the reviews, you guys, I love them, love them, love them! So keep them coming, as I love to know what you think. (:_**

**_Hope you all have/had a great day!_**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**


	11. A Bank Robbery

_**CHAPTER 11**_

_A Bank Robbery_

**_POV Luna Swift_**

I took a deep breath as I watched the sun rise, the crisp mid spring air filled with the soft chirping of birds.

The sky had turned a light pink tinted with orange, a few clouds in the sky, the smell of fresh air surrounding us.

I never really payed attention to the sky until about a year ago, when it was the only thing to keep me company, something that I could always count on it to be there, even on the worst of days.

"Hold still, Remus, or do you want a uno-brow?" James's voice asked from inside of the tent, and I smiled slightly, walking back inside, keeping a growl from ripping it's way up my throat as I looked at my best friend, who currently looked like Bellatrix Lestrange, down to the very last ringlet and heavily lidded eyes.

Remus was currently being morphed into Rodolphus Lestrange, his hair becoming black and his jaw line more square, his eyes becoming a cold brown.

"This is so exciting!" Lily's voice cried excitedly, and it looked strange, coming out of Bellatrix's mouth. I nodded in agreement, lying on the couch as Rodolphus Lestrange stood up, and I nodded in approval.

"Well done, James. They look amazing." I said, and James grinned, putting his wand back into his pocket and brushing his hands off.

"Well, the photos helped." He shrugged, pointing at the Daily Prophet. On the front page were photos of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, underneath the large 'ESCAPED' on top of the paper.

Remus shrugged, studying himself in the mirror.

"I still think I look better."

"Of course you do, Moony." Sirius called, walking out of his room. He stared at the two of them for a moment before shuddering, sitting down on the couch.

"You're scaring me."

"_Boo._" Remus said calmly, and I laughed along with Lily. It was odd to see such a truly happy expression on Bellatrix's face, one I know she would never have in real life. Regulus soon stepped into the living room as well, dressed in black robes, his hair combed back.

"Wow, you guys look great." He commented, and Lily nodded, jumping up and down, fidgeting with the black dress she was wearing.

"Thanks Reg."

"Everybody ready?" Regulus asked, and Remus nodded, but before we could leave I turned to Lily, who was looking happy and excited.

"Lily, hold yourself proudly. Don't be kind to others. You are a pureblood death eater, Voldemort's most trusted. Act like it." I said, and Lily nodded before taking a deep breath, her expression becoming cold and proud.

"Perfect." I smiled warily, resisting the urge to growl as I looked at my godmother's face. Walking outside, we gathered around in a circle, making an apparition point right outside of Gringotts.

We weren't too worried about people seeing Lily and Remus, because even though Bellatrix and Rodolphus's escape from Azkaban was called _bad,_ no one would do anything about it.

They were on Voldemort's side, and these days, nobody messed with Voldemort. Ever. Unless they were suicidal, that is.

We quickly followed Regulus, Lily, and Remus. They walked right up to the pedestal, and the goblin looked at them, un-surprised and calm.

"Can I help you?"

"We need to visit our vault." Lily said, mimicking Bellatrix's deep voice, and the Goblin nodded.

"Very well. May I see your wands?" He asked, and Remus and Lily exchanged glances before handing the goblin their wands. The goblin looked at them for a moment before looking back to Lily and Remus.

"These are not Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange's wands."

"Obviously. Our wands were taken by the ministry, so we must make do with what we found." Remus lied, and the goblin nodded.

"These wands belong to Remus Lupin and Lily Evans."

"Used to. We took them from them after we..ran into them." Remus said smoothly, and the goblin stared at him for a moment skeptically, when Sirius pulled his wand out, pointing it at the goblin.

"_Imperio._"

The goblin shuddered before he looked at Remus and Lily, nodding.

"Very well. Here is your key, Mr. Lestrange. Torntull, take them to vault 666!"`

Torntull nodded, and we followed as he, Lily, Remus and Regulus walked into the cart, while the three of us grabbed onto the back, hanging on for our lives as it started moving down the track quickly.

Everything was going smoothly when we hit a corner, and Sirius nearly fell off, dangling by his hands.

"Padfoot!" I hissed, pulling him back up. Sirius nodded gratefully, and I nearly let go myself as the cart sped down the track, twisting and turning.

After a few scary moments we were about to land when I heard James hiss, "No!" as what felt like a wall of water hit us, and wiping my eyes off I saw that Lily and Remus looked normal again, soaked, but normal.

"What- You're not the Lestrange's! TH-" Torntull started, but James put his wand on him.

"Imperio."

Torntull stopped yelling and walked over to the vault calmly, and I grinned at James as we stepped off of the cart, soaking wet.

Torntull unlocked the vault, and that's when we made our move.

"Stupefy!" I hissed, and Torntull fell over. Pulling off the cloak, I stepped inside the vault.

**_POV Lily Evans_**

I watched as Luna walked into the vault carefully, soon followed by Regulus, Sirius, Remus and then myself, James bringing up the back. It was cold down here, but I didn't mind, my eyes transfixed on the contents of the vault.

Gold and galleons were everywhere, and Luna groaned.

"This is gonna take forever!" She muttered, and Regulus nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully we'll have enough time. Split up and start searching for anything that looks like a horcruxe."

"Oh, that'll be easy!" I hissed as I started searching around in the galleons for anything that didn't seem to belong.

"What about these?" Sirius asked, stepping out of a pile of gold wearing a gold necklace, crown, and clip-on earrings. Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius posed in front of a mirror, until Luna crept behind it and swung it down, hitting Sirius on the head.

"OW! Moonpaw!" Sirius cried, rubbing his head while Luna laughed, going back to searching. Sirius shook the jewelry off, throwing it back on the ground.

"Ow!" Luna muttered, holding the end of her chain, where the ring was. Remus looked at her, his head sticking out of a pile of galleons.

"What?"

"I think the ring just...burned." Luna grimaced, pulling it off her neck and putting it in her pocket. She was going back to searching when her eyes widened, and she pulled the ring out, staring at it.

"Do any of you remember what my grandmother said?" She asked slowly, and I looked at her oddly.

"Grandmother?"

But James seemed to catch on, because he nodded.

"She mentioned that he gave a cup to one of his most trusted.."

"So we're looking for a cup!" I cried, and Luna nodded, looking around the room.

"That's exactly what we're looking for." She muttered, and I saw Sirius stand up, pointing to a shelf.

"There."

Turning around, on the top shelf was a gold cup with a badger on it, gleaming in the light.

"We found it!"

_**POV Sirius Black**_

I stared at the cup in awe, when something struck me as odd.

"What's the badger for?"

"It's Hufflepuff's cup!" Remus gaped, and Lily nodded in agreement as we all gravitated to the high shelf.

"How do we get it?" I asked, and James shrugged before climbing onto the brick wall carefully making his way up to the shelf.

"Be careful, James!" Lily hissed as he reached towards the cup. Two inches, one inch... He had just grabbed the cup when he jumped, shaking his hand and watching as the cup fell to the floor and split into ten cups.

"It burned me!"

"What?" Luna asked, touching one of the cups before she jerked her hand back as that cup duplicated into ten more.

"Don't touch anymore!" Remus warned as I reached for a cup, and James carefully climbed down the wall, landing next to Regulus.

"What do we do?"

"Wait- shh." Luna muttered, cocking her head sideways slightly. Suddenly her eyes widened. she pulled off her jacket and wrapped it around her hand before picking a cup that was close to Lily, quickly taking a step back.

Luna held the jacket-covered cup up proudly.

"Got it. I can hear it.. it's like this hissing sound in it." Luna muttered, staring at it oddly. Remus nodded, and the two werewolves exchanged glances when there was a loud whistle, and someone banged on the door.

"Run, little kiddies! Run while you can!" A voice cackled, and Luna's face paled as the figures of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange entered the room, Bellatrix's face glowing sadistically.

"I believe you have something of ours, and we'd like it back."

**_POV James Potter_**

The six of us stood still for a minute, staring at Bellatrix and Rodolphus before we started running for our lives, heading towards the second door.

"Hurry!" Remus yelled, as the door started closing, sliding downwards.

Something flashed in Luna's eyes, and she passed the cup to Lily, along with the ring horcruxe, while Lily already wore the locket around her neck.

"Take it and run. Take them to Dumbledore, don't slow down. _Go_." Luna ordered, and Lily nodded with wide eyes before taking off, running faster then I've ever seen her move before. She made it out of the door first, while the rest of us was at least 15 feet behind.

"Come on!" Remus yelled, ducking as a spell shot over his head, bouncing off the door. We were almost there when there was a loud click, and the door locked shut.

"No!" Luna yelled, pulling her wand out and facing the two death eaters, her eyes a pure silver and flashing dangerously.

"Stupefy!" Luna yelled, but Bellatrix easily dodged it, and it hit the left wall.

"Aw, look Rodolphus! It's little Luna!" Bellatrix cooed, and Luna backed against the wall, while Remus, Sirius, Regulus and I stayed up front, glaring at out opponents.

"And the others too! And what's this?" Rodolphus asked, looking at Regulus, who was glaring fiercely back at him.

Why, it's _Reggie_!" Bellatrix squealed, and Regulus nodded calmly.

"Hello, Bella."

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix hissed, and Regulus jumped as the curse flew under him. Luna growled, pointing her wand at her.

"Aw, little Luna looking for a fight?" Bellatrix asked. "Stupefy!"

Luna yelped, but Sirius grabbed her and pulled her down as the spell flew over her head, and Bellatrix shrieked.

"Don't have a temper tantrum, _Bella_, it will never get you what you want." Regulus tsked, dodging a spell from Rodolphus.

"Where's your little mudblood _girlfriend_, Potter?" Rodolphus asked, turning to me. I glared at him, keeping my wand trailed on him.

"No where you need to know about. _Expelliarmus!_" I watched with satisfaction as Rodolphus's wand flew out of his hand, landing a good ten yards behind him.

"You filthy blood traitor!" Rodolphus growled, watching as his wife ducked a spell from Sirius.

"Come, little Luna, come back to us and_ play_! We used to such fun!" Bellatrix cooed, and Luna growled, her hair falling into her face as she sent spell after spell at Bellatrix, but the older witch was fast.

"Sectumsempra!" Bellatrix yelled, and I watched in horror as the spell hit not Luna, but Sirius, who collapsed on the floor.

"HA!" Bellatrix cried triumphantly before going back to dueling Luna, while Remus ran to Sirius's side, helping him. Rodolphus had gotten his wand back and was dueling Regulus while I stood watch over Remus and Sirius, who was bleeding badly.

"Is he ok?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the two death eaters. I heard Remus snort from behind me, where he was checking on Sirius.

"What do you think?" He growled, and I shrugged.

"Stupefy!" Luna yelled, nearly hitting Bellatrix's arm, but Bellatrix simply swung her arm out of the way, laughing madly.

"Nice try, Ms. Wolfie! How's the neck healing up?" Bellatrix asked sweetly, and Luna growled, ducking as the killing curse shot over her head.

"Just fine, thanks for asking!" Luna called back. "Expelliarmus!"

"Crucio!" Bellatrix roared, the spell hitting Luna. Luna flinched but stayed standing, her eyes narrowed.

"I think you're losing your touch, Trixie!"

"Avada Kedavra!" Rodolphus yelled, and Regulus jumped out of the way.

"That's not very nice." He muttered under his breath before getting hit with a stunning spell, his eyes widening as he fell over.

"Reggie!" Luna yelled, ducking as Rodolphus turned on her.

"Stupefy!" Rodolphus yelled, but I deflected the spell, jumping up and taking Regulus's place.

"Potter." Rodolphus sneered, and I grinned.

"_Hey_. Stupefy!"

Rodolphus ducked, jumping over a stray curse sent from Luna before jumping into action.

"Avada Kedavra!"

I ducked as the green light shot over my head, hitting the wall and causing a mirror to shatter, the glass spreading across the floor.

"Obscuro!" Rodolphus yelled, and I ducked, when I realized his spell wasn't aimed towards me. Remus yelped as the blindfold wrapped around his head, and he fell backwards onto the floor next to Sirius, whose shirt had turned bright red.

"Moony!" Luna yelled, ducking as a spell passed over her.

"Come now, Luna, come with us! And we can have so much fun!" Bellatrix laughed, sending another curse Luna's way.

"No!" Luna barked, jumping over the curse and going back to dueling Bellatrix, who simply laughed as the two witches dueled. I was watching when I heard one word:

"Stupefy!"

I felt myself fall to the floor, and Bellatrix's triumphant scream.

"Your friends are defeated!"

"Stupefy!" I could hear Luna keep pushing on, and a thud as Rodolphus fell to the floor, stunned.

"HEY!" Bellatrix yelled, and with one last swish of her wand I watched as Luna fell to the floor next to me on her stomach, her hair falling into her face, her face frozen in a look of devastation.

Bellatrix looked down at her, smiling triumphantly, her eyes glinting cruelly.

"Oh, the fun we'll have!" She said, before looking at me. "_Obscuro._"

And everything went black.

**_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_**

**_So... did ya'll like it? *Smiles weakly*_**

**_Okay, REVIEW! I love reviews, the make me feel all warm inside, like cookies. I love cookies! XD_**

**_Hope you all have a good week, DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Anndd... I think that's it!  
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**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla _**


	12. Not Again

**_Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews, I appreciate every single one! Keep them coming please! So, how you liking the series so far? _**

**_Just a warning, this next chapter is fairly brutal and pretty dark. BE WARNED._**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Luna._

**CHAPTER 12**

_Not Again_

**POV Remus Lupin**

I groaned, opening my eyes.

Where were we?

Everything was fairly dark except for the small amount of light coming out through the barred windows at the far right of the room, allowing us to see, but barely.

Coughing, I propped myself on my elbows, and I winced when I tried to move a leg, and it was easy to tell it was sprained.

"Remus? Thank merlin." James breathed somewhere from my left, and I looked towards the voice to see James looking at me, his glasses askew on his face. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I started making out more shapes and people.

The door was about ten feet away and barred, while Sirius maybe three feet away, bandages wrapped carelessly around his chest, while Regulus was pacing by the doors, looking tired.

"Where are we?" I croaked, and James shrugged.

"We don't know."

"Where's Luna?" I asked, and I heard a cough from the other side of the room.

"Luna's here." Luna muttered, leaning against the barred door from the other cell, looking tired and devastated, her eyes dull and hopeless.

"Are you ok?"

Luna coughed again, shrugging. "That's debatable."

"Oh, kiddies!" A voice laughed from the side, and Bellatrix stepped out of the shadows, smiling cruelly. Luna whimpered slightly, disappearing from sight as she back against the wall. Bellatrix cackled, smiling.

"At least you've remembered your place, dear Luna. Come now, let's go have some fun!" Bellatrix nearly squealed, walking towards Luna. Roughly she grabbed Luna by her shirt, throwing her out of the cage and onto the floor.

"Now, what do you say, dearie?" Bellatrix cooed, and Luna pulled herself halfway off the floor, coughing.

"Burn in hell." She growled, and Bellatrix kicked her in the ribs.

"Not even close!"

Luna growled, her eyes flashing silver as she looked at Bellatrix, who smiled smugly above her. Bellatrix smirked at Luna before turning to our cell, laughing humorlessly.

"Aw, isn't it my favorite people. The marauders, joined by little Reggie! Oh, does it hurt to see her in pain?" Bellatrix pouted, her eyes lingering Sirius before she turned around, walking back towards Luna.

"But oh, silly me, I forgot! You split up, didn't you?" She pouted, pushing Luna down on the floor from where she was trying to get up.

"Poor wittle Luna, all alwone!" Bellatrix sighed, leaning down and whispering something in Luna's ear, in which Luna flinched at. Bellatrix cackled, turning back to us.

"So I'm _sure_ you won't mind if I do this." She smiled, pointing her wand at Luna, who looked fiercely back at her.

"Avada K-" She started, but Sirius spoke up.

"No! Don't!"

Bellatrix turned to look at Sirius, her wand still pointed at Luna. Bellatrix's face filled with glee.

"Oh, I knew one of you would speak up! You'll regret it, though." Bellatrix taunted, turning back to Luna, who looked quickly down at the ground, leaning against the wall.

"I'll be back. You try to escape.. well, you know the drill." Bellatrix cackled before disappearing up the stairs, while Luna sat on the floor, breathing heavily, a tear trailing down her face.

"Luna, are you-" Sirius started, but Luna shook her head, curling up into a ball against the wall, looking away from us.

She sat there for a minute before she lifted her head up, tears trailing down her face.

"Why did you stop her?" She asked, and Sirius gaped.

"You didn't want to die, did you?"

"Maybe I did!" Luna hissed before disappearing into her cell, out of sight. Sirius looked at the ground, looking crushed.

"She wanted to die. Why would she want to die?" He asked, looking at one of us for an answer.

"She's tired of this. She wants out." James said sadly, and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and falling asleep. I didn't want to see any more of this.

**_POV Sirius Black_**

She wanted to die. She wanted to _die_. Why would she want to die? She's Luna. Luna's strong, Luna doesn't want to die.

I leaned against the wall, looking across the room for some sign on Luna, but she had disappeared from view. Remus was sleeping, while James, Regulus and I sat in silence. But no matter what I did I couldn't fall asleep, not to mention my sides hurt from where Bellatrix's curse had hit me.

"Do you think Lily got away safely?" James asked quietly and Regulus nodded from across the room.

"I think so. We held back Bellatrix and Rodolphus as long as we could, so she had enough time to get away. Hopefully she brought the horcruxes to Dumbledore."

"She did. I have complete faith in her." Luna's voice spoke across from the room, and we all turned to see Luna pacing in front of her door, thinking.

"So do I, but what if she got-" James started, but Luna glared at him before cutting him off.

"Then she'll either be coming here or is dead. Since either option is bad news, I suggest we go for the more positive one, as positive thoughts is the only good thing you'll get from this place." Luna snorted, looking around the cell as if for an escape route.

"How do we get out of here?" Regulus asked, and Luna sighed.

"You don't. I was in here for a year and a half, remember? I've tried pretty much everything. The walls are cement, the floor is solid, and the bars aren't going anywhere. There's no cracks, holes, or even lines anywhere in the cells, whatsoever. These cells were made to keep people in, only openable from the outside, and with a special key." Luna shrugged.

"Well, this sucks." I muttered, and James and Regulus nodded in agreement. I looked over at Luna, who was looking at the door from where Bellatrix had disappeared an hour ago. I was wondering why when I heard footsteps, and Bellatrix entered the room again, two people in dark cloaks behind her. Bellatrix nodded, and the two death eaters unlocked and walked into Luna's cell, dragging her out.

"No! Leave me alone!" Luna growled, kicking at them, but one of them punched her in the ribs.

"HEY! Don't do that!" I yelled, and Bellatrix turned to me as the two death eaters dragged Luna upstairs.

"Oh, but Siri, don't you see? We _can_ do that, and we will. In fact, maybe you can join us! Ooh, how fun would that be!" Bellatrix squealed, and before I could protest or do anything the two death eaters had returned and grabbed my arms, dragging me upstairs as well.

"Padfoot!" James yelled as the door shut, and I cringed as my head hit a stair.

"Ow." I muttered when I was dragged to the center of a room, next to Luna, who was lying on the floor on her stomach, bleeding slightly. Running over to her, I checked her vital signs.

She was fine, but her pulse was faster then normal, and she coughed, pulling herself up and looking around, looking at me in shock.

"What are you doing here? You need to go!" Luna cried, when someone grabbed me from around my neck and pulled me to my feet, away from Luna who was looking around the room with wide eyes.

"Oh no, you just get to watch." Rodolphus's voice growled in my ear, and I heard Luna whimper at the center of the floor, her eyes wide.

"Well, well, look who it is." A voice chuckled darkly, and a man stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the room. He had black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, and yellow eyes. His canine teeth were sharper then usual, and his nails were long and sharp. Two others appeared in the shadows, another younger guy and a woman, both of them having the same features of the first. Even when they were human they were wolves, in their movements and structures, their positions and habits, as the younger guy and woman circled around Luna, like wolves circle their prey.

"Why, it's Luna! Long time no see!" The woman cackled, and Luna looked warily back at her.

"Hello Sabrina, Kyle, Grandfather."

My eyes widened as Greyback stepped forward, grabbing her face and forcing her to look at him.

"Now why do you always run?"

"Because I prefer to stick to the non-human diet, thanks." Luna growled, and Greyback pushed her back, and she stumbled to the floor.

"Must you be such the rebel?" Greyback sighed, and Luna growled, her eyes flashing as Kyle chuckled darkly, standing by Greyback's side.

"Oh, it's just in her blood."

"It's very fine blood, too." Sabrina added, before turning to look at me.

"Aw! Do we get another toy as well?" Sabrina asked hopefully, but Bellatrix shook her head, looking at the she-wolf with distaste.

"No. He's just an observer."

"Pity." Sabrina's face dropped as she turned to look back at Luna.

"But we'll still have fun, won't we?" She purred, and Luna winced as Greyback suddenly sunk to his knees, his face elongating, his hands becoming paws.

"He's an animagus." I realized, staring at the giant wolf that stood in front of Luna. It growled before pouncing, biting into her arm. Luna yelped, sending a punch to his muzzle and forcing him to let go, wincing as she looked at the bite marks on her arm. The Greyback-wolf growled, and Luna scrambled backwards, running into another wolf, this one slightly smaller then Greyback and a light brown.

The wolf growled, grabbing the pack of her shirt and dragging her roughly to the center of the floor.

"What are they doing?" I whispered, and Bellatrix laughed gleefully.

"Oh, you'll see."

I watched horrified as a wolf snapped at Luna, but Luna only flinched when another wolf pounced on top of her pinning her to the floor, his teeth dangerously close to her neck.

THe wolf seemed to chuckle before it bit into her arm, using her weight to toss her into the wall. Luna winced, a small yelp escaping her throat as she sat there, her back to the wall.

"Please!" Luna begged, and I winced as the wolves closed in on her, teeth bared.

_**POV James Potter**_

I winced as I heard screaming from upstairs, a sound that I was positive would haunt me forever.

It lasted for a few minutes longer when there was one last eardrum-shattering scream before it stopped. There was a loud laugh and footsteps as people walked downstairs. Sirius came first, lead in by two death eaters that shoved him into our cell.

Sirius was pale, looking haunted and disturbed as he sat down across from me as Luna was dragged into our cell as well, or at least, I thought it was Luna.

There was blood over her face, and her shirt was stained with blood. She was unconscious, and I grimaced as I saw the bite mark around her ankle, deep and gruesome. Blood was pouring from a gash in her right side, and she had paled immensely.

Bellatrix leaned over her and forced something down her throat before she and the other death eaters left the room. I turned to Sirius, who was staring at the wall with eyes as big as the moon.

"What happened?" Remus asked, and Sirius stuttered to get the words out.

"G-Greyback, and w-wolves, and blood, lots of b-blood." Sirius said, and a groan came from the other side of the room as Luna came too. She rubbed her head, sighing.

"Damn, that hurt." She breathed before looking over at Sirius. "Can you see why I _might_ have a slight death wish?"

Sirius hesitated before nodding sadly, and Luna leaned against the wall, breathing deeply.

"How can you be so... calm?" Remus asked, looking at Luna worriedly. Luna looked at him, smiling slightly.

"Trust me, I'm screaming a like a little girl inside. But I'm not gonna give them the..._pleasure_ of knowing I'm hurt." Luna spat. "I've learned to hide it."

"Well, as long as you're conscious, I think we better put something on those scratches." Remus mused, ripping a few shreds of his robe off and wrapping them around a particularly large gash on Luna's arm. Luna winced but nodded.

"Thanks Remus."

"So what are we gonna do?" I asked, and Regulus shrugged.

"Wait, I guess. Any idea when they'll be back?"

"None." Luna said instantly. "They like to catch people off guard, even their prisoners."

"Well, that's cheerful." I muttered, and Luna shrugged.

"Hey, it could be worse."

"How!""Sirius cried.

"Lily isn't here, is she? She got away most likely. She's probably with Dumbledore."

After that things fell silent, everyone in deep thought as we quietly sat in the cold, dark cell, wondering if anyone would ever find us, and how long it might take them


	13. Full Moon and Past Friends

**_I luv ya'll, did you know that? Thanks for the awesome reviews, guys, I love em! _**

**_Hope you all have a great week,_**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**

_CHAPTER 13_

_**POV Remus Lupin**_

I didn't know what time it was. The sun had already appeared when we woke, and nobody was wearing a watch.

Luna was sleeping in the other cell in her dog form, the white dog sleeping heavily, stirring every now and then.

"Morning." A voice croaked, and James's head rose from where it had been leaning on his shoulder. I nodded.

"Good morning, James."

"_Good?_" Sirius snorted, waking as well. I shrugged hopelessly as Regulus also awoke, stretching.

"What I miss?"

"Nothing yet." I sighed, and Sirius sighed in relief.

"Good. Though I suppose they won't leave us down here for long.." Sirius shrugged when Luna woke, instantly melting back into her human form and blinking sleepily.

"What time is it?" She yawned, and Regulus shrugged.

"No clue. Remus?" He asked hopefully, and I sighed.

"Can't tell."

"Great." Luna muttered, sitting up. "How'd everybody sleep?"

"Horrible." We all chorused, and Luna laughed, shaking her head.

"It was fine for me, but I'm fairly used to it." Luna muttered, rubbing her back. "Had the most torturous dream."

"What?" James asked curiously, and Luna smiled sadly.

"That we had made it out of Gringotts."

"I think everybody is dreaming about that, Moonpaw." Sirius mused, and Luna shrugged.

"Can't help it- Oh crap, they're coming." Luna breathed, and a few seconds later the door opened. Walking inside, I couldn't help but let out a growl as Severus Snape entered the room, a tray of food floating behind him.

"Well, well. Isn't it Snivellus." Sirius growled, and Snape glared at him as he approached us. He looked slightly bothered to see us here, and he probably felt uncomfortable under the cold stare Regulus was giving him.

"Here's your food." He said, shoving the plates into our cell. He looked coldly at all of us before his expression fell on Regulus.

"Why?" He asked simply, and Regulus shrugged.

"Because it was the right thing."

"You do know they're going to kill you."

"At least I will die as a free man, and not under the service of a monster." Regulus said calmly as Snape left the room. Luna smiled weakly at Regulus as he picked up the plates and passed them around. It was stale bread and what sort of resembled oatmeal, though Luna must have caught my expression because she rolled her eyes, laughing slightly.

"Don't worry, Moony, it's just bread and oatmeal. Not very tasty, but it's filling." Luna sighed, sitting down next to Regulus, who had lost his calm expression and was looking slightly shaken.

"Reg? You ok?" Luna asked, and Regulus nodded.

"Ya, I'm fine. Just..." He shivered, and Luna put an arm around him.

"I'm not gonna let them hurt you." Luna said comfortingly, and Regulus nodded gratefully, leaning against her.

"Thanks Luna."

"No problem, Reggie." She smiled, but any of us could catch the worry in her eyes as she looked at the seventeen year old.

_**POV Luna Swift**_

I looked worriedly at Regulus, who was staring blankly at his food.

"Reg, you ok?" I asked quietly so the other's couldn't hear, and Regulus nodded, but his expression said otherwise.

"Come here." I whispered, pulling him to the other side of the cell with me. Regulus nodded, looking down at the ground, while the others looked at us curiously, but I waved them off. Turning to Regulus, I sighed.

"Are you ok?" I asked again, and Regulus shook his head.

"No.. I'm scared." Regulus whispered, shaking slightly. I frowned.

"Tell me about it."

"I don't want to die here!" Regulus said immeaditley, whispering loudly, though the others were out of earshot. Regulus continued after a moment.

"I'm scared, I'm really, really _scared_. I-I don't wanna die in this hell hole, and I know what they do to traitors, Luna, and I am scared." Regulus whispered, and I nodded as a tear escaped his face, falling down his cheek.

"It'll be ok. I won't let them hurt you." I tried to comfort, but Regulus shook his head, and my heart broke at the sad picture in front of me. He looked like a puppy that just had it's mother taken away from him, leaving the pup alone, left to die, to starve.

"You can't do that. They'll take me away, and Luna I'm scared. I feel hopeless. I'm never going to get out of this place. I'm dead scared. I just want someone to get it over with, I don't want to have to go through this anymore." Regulus's voice broke before it came a whisper. "But I-I don't have a choice."

"Shh. I promise, they won't touch you-" I started, but Regulus's whisper cut through mine.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep." He snapped before he looked down, his eyes haunted, his face morose as his voice became a deadly whisper. "I know what they do to the people who betray them. And I am very, _very_, scared."

I took a deep breath before speaking.

"You know I can't promise it'll be alright, that they won't hurt you, but I promise you'll make it out of here." I said, and Regulus nodded, looking up at me.

"I love you, Luna." He said calmly, and I smiled weakly.

"I love you too, Reg." I smiled, and Regulus nodded. We may not be blood, but we were just as much as brother and sister as anyone else.

"Come on, let's get some food into you." I sad after a moment, and together we walked back to the other's, no words spoken, and no questions asked, though that was only because the oatmeal was like superglue.

**POV James Potter**

I forced the last of my oatmeal down, trying not to gag. It was dry, bland, tasteless, and just plain gross.

Sirius and Remus were talking about ways to escape, despite what Luna had said, while Luna was looking like she was deep in thought, one arm around a sleeping Regulus, and her other was on the back of her neck. I was planning to go back to sleep when a disturbing thought struck me.

"Moonpaw." I whispered, and Luna looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"What Prongs?"

"What day is it?"

"It's... Oh, it's March twenty-ninth, why?" She asked, before her mouth fell open. "Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap.."

"What?" Sirius asked, but Luna ignored him, turning to look at Remus.

"Moony! It's a full moon tonight!" She hissed, and Remus's eyes widened.

"What!"

"It's the twenty ninth! The full moon is tonight!" Luna cried, and Remus blinked.

"That's not good."

"No! No it isn't! We need to go!" Luna hissed, her eyes flashing back and forth from sky blue to bright silver.

"Why? I mean, won't you guys be separated from us?" I asked, and Luna turned to me, her face grave.

"Yes. That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried-" She started, but Remus cut her off.

"That we'll be put with Greyback."

"Yes!"

"That's not good." Remus repeated, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh!" She hissed when there was a clang as Bellatrix and Fenrir Greyback entered the room, Greyback grinning madly. Bellatrix was looking at him with distaste, but her face lit up when she saw us.

"Hello kiddies! Look who came to pick you up!" Bellatrix cried cheerfully, and Greyback laughed, looking back and forth from Remus and Luna. Remus had tried to hide in the corner, but Greyback saw him anyway.

"Well, lookie here! Hello, Lupin. Long time no see." Greyback grinned insanely, and Luna growled, standing up.

"Leave him alone, you git." Luna spat, and Greyback's arm shot through the bars, wrapping around her neck.

"Watch your mouth, Lunasa." He warned, but Luna stared back at him evenly, only flinching slightly when his grip tightened.

"Be a pity if you strangled me." Luna choked out. "Then what would you do tonight?"

Greyback growled but dropped her while Bellatrix unlocked the doors, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Ooh! You are going to have so much fun!" Bellatrix squealed, walking into the cell and grabbing Luna by her neck, forcing her out. Greyback grabbed Luna's arm roughly, and Luna growled slightly, watching hopelessly as Bellatrix grabbed Remus.

We tried to stop her but she was quick, easily shoving Remus out and shutting the cell door behind her. Turning to us, she smiled as Greyback took Luna and Remus upstairs, keeping a tight hold on their arms.

"Oh, you'll see your friend in a little bit!" She smiled insanely before running up the steps, disappearing from sight.

"Any idea what time it is?" I asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"It feels like it's maybe twelve, one-thirty."

"Then why did they take them so soon?" I wondered, and Regulus grimaced.

"I don't wanna know, personally." He muttered, and Sirius and I nodded in agreement, looking at the stairs were our friends had disappeared.

**POV Luna Swift**

I growled as Greyback forced me upstairs, his nails digging into my arm. Remus was glaring at Greyback, nearly tripping on one of the stairs as we finally made it to the top, and Greyback shoved us into a room with shiny silver walls and a cement floor.

"See you later, Wolfies." Greyback waved as the door shut, and instantly pulled Remus away from the wall when he started drifting towards it curiously.

"It's silver, Moony. Don't touch it." I hissed, and Remus nodded.

"Why, though?"

"To keep us from trying to escape, that's why." I explained, and Remus nodded as we looked around the windowless, and seemingly doorless room, where you could only leave and get in from the outside.

"They're not gonna leave us here, are they?" Remus asked, and I sighed, sitting down on the floor.

"Yup. It makes the fights more brutal."

"Fights?" Remus's eyes widened, and I chuckled darkly.

"Of course. You don't actually think they'd leave us alone in here, did you?"

"So you mean-"

"Oh, they'll be back." I sighed, looking at the door. "They always come back."

**POV Remus Lupin**

I paced in the center of the room, bored out of my mind.

We had been here for at least three hours. Luna was staring at the door expectantly. She hadn't moved, and the only way I knew she was alive was when she blinked and breathed.

"What time is it?" I asked impatiently, but Luna didn't answer. Sighed, I almost banged my head on the wall when I remembered it was silver. Jumping back from the door, I sat down next to Luna, who to my surprise, actually looked at me.

"You moved!" I cried before I could stop myself. Luna raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.

"That's right Moony. I_ moved_." She said as if she was talking to a three year old, and I rolled my eyes.

"No, I mean you've been still for just so long-"

Luna laughed, cutting me off. "Sorry Moony. I've been drifting in and out of sleep."

"You sleep with your eyes open?" I asked, and Luna shrugged.

"Only when I need to. It burns a little but, but no one can sneak up on you. Well, they won't think they're sneaking up on you." Luna shrugged, when there was a loud laugh from outside the door, and I growled as Fenrir Greyback and another werewolf entered the room, another male with blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"Hello, wolfies." Greyback greeted, and Luna growled at him, crouching into a defensive stance. Greyback frowned.

"Now that's no way to say hello to your grandfather." He said, while the other guy copied Luna's crouch, glaring at her. Luna's eyes widened when she saw him, and she dropped out of her stance.

"Caleb?" She asked, and the boy growled, stepping towards her threateningly, until Greyback put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, Caleb, she's just a bit alarmed." Greyback smiled, smiling wickedly at Luna who looked between him and I guess the boy who was Caleb, in shock. Greyback turned to me, looking at me darkly.

"You'll soon learn how we do things here, Lupin. Then perhaps maybe you will consider joining me, if there's anything left." He said, and I growled slightly while Caleb turned on Luna, who scrambled away, still looking at him with wide eyes.

"Caleb! It's me, Luna!" Luna said, but Caleb showed no recognition, and Luna quickly scrambled over to me, looking at me worriedly.

"Who is that?" I asked, and Luna sighed.

"Caleb Reinor. He was a half blood wizard I was friends with when I was younger, until my parents found out and stopped it." She explained hurriedly. "He was a little bit like yourself, honestly, but.."

She trailed off, looking back at him, and Caleb growled, while Greyback simply watched with interest.

"The full moon will be soon. I'd love to join you, but regretfully I promised my pack I would go hunting with them." Greyback sighed before leaving the room, and I watched as a large whole in the ceiling appeared, just big enough to see the setting sun in it. Luna turned back to Caleb.

"Caleb! Come on, don't you remember me?" Luna asked, but Caleb simply looked at her with disdain, and Luna sighed.

"Lunasa Bellatrix Swift! We were best friends until I was fourteen!" Luna cried, exasperated, but Caleb stared at her blankly, showing no interest, though his eyes burned with malice.

"At least say something!" Luna sighed, and Caleb smiled slightly, and trust me, it wasn't a pleasant smile.

"I wouldn't spend time talking to me. I would spend it with him." Caleb said, pointing a finger at me.

"Why?" Luna growled, and Caleb looked back at her, meeting her fierce gaze.

"Because it's his last night alive."

Several emotions passed through me in that moment. Fury, horror, defiance, surprise, and fear. Luna got ticked, cause I grabbed her around the waist, keeping her from ripping Caleb to shreds. She did cuss him out, however, with words that I didn't think even Sirius knew.

Caleb looked slightly alarmed but stayed where he was, sitting on the floor with his legs criss-crossed. Finally Luna calmed down enough for me to let her go, though she was still glaring at Caleb.

"What is the matter with you?" She asked, and Caleb stared at her blankly.

"Nothing."

"Do you remember me?" Luna asked warily, and Caleb nodded before speaking.

"You're Lunasa Bellatrix Swift, born June first. You lived in the manor two blocks away." Caleb said calmly. "You were my best friend until the summer of your fourteenth birthday, when your parents found out I was a half blood, forbidding you to see me again."

"Then why- I mean-" Luna stuttered, at loss for words. Caleb smiled sickly.

"Your grandfather is a wise wolf, Aza." He smiled, and Luna growled.

"Don't call me that!"

"Yes, it did always bug you, didn't it?" Caleb asked calmly, looking up as the moon started to rise. "I suppose you wonder why I joined your grandfather?"

"Hell yes." Luna growled, and Caleb looked back at her.

"Your grandfather offered me a better life, and I took it. My father was a dead and my mother was a filthy muggle. I was walking in the forest when I met your grandfather, and he found my case.. interesting. So the next full moon I joined him, and together we... took care of my abomination relatives."

"You killed your own mother?" Luna gaped, and Caleb blinked.

"Indeed. It was a better fate for her then the one Greyback had planned out. While I took care of that woman-" Caleb spat on the ground.- "Your grandfather paid a visit to my muggle aunt and uncle, along with my cousins. No one shall ever know of my bad blood again."

Luna looked horrorstruck, and before I could stop her she had punched Caleb in the face, watching with satisfaction as he fell backwards.

"You dirty son of a-"

There she goes with the cussing again. Someone really needs to work on her vocabulary. Caleb growled this time, his eyes flashing gold. Suddenly I felt a prick in my foot, turning into a snap as the full moon rose.

**POV Luna Swift**

I yelped as what felt like needles started to come through my skin, my eyes burning into silver and my feet turning into paws with sharp claws. Remus was somewhere beside me, while Caleb was on the other side of the room.

Finally the pain stopped, and I blinked, looking around the room. I felt the small nudge I always get in the back of my mind, the ferocious one, the one that urged me to bite whatever I could, but I held back, looking in between the dark brown form of Remus, and the light grey form of Caleb.

_'Bad wolf.' _The wolf inside me growled, and I crouched into a defensive position in front of Remus, my white tail swinging back and forth, ready for a fight. A whine from behind me told me Remus was worried, and his ears were flat against his head as Caleb moved into a hunting crouch, snarling.

I copied his movements before I lunged, grabbing onto his back and flipping him over on his stomach. I caught him by surprise, but he easily took over, and with a simple move from Caleb I landed on my back.

'_Bad. Vulnerable.' _The wolf whined when I felt sharp teeth grab the scruff of my neck, roughly swinging me over to the other side of the room and into the silver wall.

'_Ow!' _I yelped, stepping away from the wall and waiting for the right moment to leap as Remus and Caleb circled around each other, snarling and swiping at each other, claws extended.

Caleb jumped at Remus, pinning him back down to the floor but Remus was quick. He used his paws and shoved Caleb off, sending the light grey wolf into the air and to the left of the room.

Walking over I grabbed Remus by his neck, lifting him back up to his paws. Remus nodded gratefully, but before I could respond Caleb flew at me, pinning me on the side. A growl ripped out of my throat as I scrambled to get him off.

Finally his grip loosened on my fur, and I flipped it, so I had him pinned to the floor. Caleb growled, snapping at my paws. I was tempted to kill him. He threatened Remus. He threatened my pack. He threatened my brother, he threatened me.

I almost killed him, my claws digging into his fur, but Remus nudged me away, though he never turned his back to Caleb, who stood up and laid down in the corner, watching us intently.

Remus looked at me worriedly, and I barked a laugh at his expression. Wolf or not, he was like a brother, the over-protective, mother-hen kind you couldn't help but love.

Remus finally let me go after searching me for any injuries, and I walked over to the other side of the room, pacing. Some people may think it's weird to walk on four paws instead of two feet, but for a werewolf, it can make even the clumsiness people feel graceful. It gave you more power, strength, and speed too.

Turning around, I only had a second to realized Caleb was charging at me, his eyes glinting maliciously. I had no time to prepare for a fight, and my paw already felt broken. Ten feet. Five feet. I braced myself for impact when a wolf jumped in front of me, taking Caleb's wrath, and I felt something wet hit my foot, the smell of blood drifting through the air.

I howled loudly, something that was non understandable to the human ear, but to a wolf or werewolf, the word was perfectly clear.

'_REMUS!' _


	14. Morning After

**CHAPTER 14**

_POV Sirius Black_

I held my head in my hands, thinking with the others. Regulus was pacing, while James was talking to himself. About an hour ago a loud, mournful howl had shattered the silence, waking all of us up and throwing us into a panic.

What had happened? Who howled? Was it Remus? Luna? Someone else? WHO! And WHY?

"Did you hear that?" Regulus asked suddenly, and the three of us froze, listening intently. Regulus was right. There was a loud, cruel laugh and footsteps, and it took all of us seconds to realize they were coming down stairs.

"Hurry up!" A voice growled, and a few seconds later a figure was shoved through the door before it shut, locking.

"NO! REMUS!" Luna yelled, banging on the door insanely, as if she could break it down. She was covered in blood and wearing a pair of shorts and a ratty t-shirt, her hair tumbling down her back, her hands red and bloody.

"LEMME OUT! REMUS!" Luna yelled again, collapsing by the door, sobs shaking her body. A second later she was up again, scratching and clawing at the door. "BRING HIM BACK! YOU FILTHY GITS! BRING- HIM-_BACK_!"

Luna said each word after punching the door, her knuckles starting to bleed. "Bring him back! Please!" Luna pleaded, and I felt my heart stop as James approached Luna as she slid to the floor, breathing heavily.

James knelt next to her, wrapping an arm around her carefully, and Luna leaned against him, crying.

"What happened?" James asked quietly, and Luna looked up, tears streaking her face.

"C-Caleb. H-he killed... H-he killed Remus!" Luna wailed, and James paled, his eyes widening.

"What?" He whispered, while I saw down, trying to control my shaking. Remus...Surely not_ Lupin_?

"H-he killed Moony!" Luna whispered, tears falling down her face one by one. "He was trying to kill me, and Remus jumped in the way."

"H-he can't be d-dead! H-he's Remus! Remus d-doesn't die!" I cried, and Luna looked at me sadly, her body trembling.

"I-I couldn't help him. C-Caleb grabbed his neck, a-and-" But Luna broke off again, taking deep breaths.

"I-I pulled C-Caleb away, b-but it was t-too late." She stuttered, tears falling down her face.

"A-and then the moon left, and people came back in, and they laughed, poking Remus's body, laughing at me, and Caleb just sat there, smiling smugly..."

Luna broke off into tears, her body shaking so badly it looked like an earthquake was happening inside her.

"It's ok, calm down." James soothed, trying to hide his own tears as the news sunk in. The full moon was over, and Remus Lupin was dead.

**_POV James Potter_**

Remus was dead. Remus John Lupin, A.k.a Moony the Marauder, was dead. That's not possible. This was a joke. Or even better! It was a dream. Everything that's happened that last few days have just been a dream.

But the look on Luna's face, one of despair, immense sadness, and horror told me just the opposite. Remus was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

I felt a tear start trailing down my face and I quickly wiped it off with my free hand, the other arm wrapped around the trembling Luna.

"What do we do now?" Regulus asked, looking up sadly. Sirius shrugged, staring blankly at the floor. No one had moved since Luna had come back. I didn't know how long we had been here, though one of my legs had fallen asleep.

"I don't know." I said honestly. What could we do? We needed to leave, but none of us wanted to without Remus, and that.. that was impossible. At the moment we didn't really have a chance at leaving anyways.

"We just go along with it." Luna said dully, looking at everyone with sad eyes. "Treat it like any other day."

"What about escaping? We need to get out of here before a-another person.." Sirius trailed off, and Luna's eyes flashed and she stood up, glaring at Sirius.

"Don't you get it? This is all just a game to them! They _like_ pain. They_ like_ misery. They love to see it! If we give that to them, we're only gonna get a lot more! The more we fight, the more they attack." Luna growled, but Sirius snapped back just as quickly.

"We need to fight! We need to resist, if they see that we're strong, they think they won't be able to win! If we can get out of this, than we need to give it all we've got to make that escape happen!"

"They don't think like that!" Luna cried. "They will torture, and torture, and torture you until you are broken! Then they kill you. Painfully. We need to hang back, don't give them any feedback, you could say."

"Well I'm _sorry_ if I actually_ have_ somebody waiting for me to get back home alive, unlike someone! I'm _sorry_ if I _want_ to get back to my _fiancee_!" Sirius snapped, missing the hurt that went through Luna's eyes. "I'm _sorry_ if I don't have a death wish! I'm_ sorry_ if I don't want to be tortured for_ weeks_ on end! I'm _sorry_ if I want to leave this hell hole and have a normal life!"

Luna stared at him coldly for a minute before disappearing, walking to the other side of the room and vanishing in the darkness. Sirius glared at her as she left before turning to us. Both Regulus and I were staring at him angrily. Sirius's glare faded, and he looked at us with confusion.

"What?"

"You- I don't- _gah_!" Regulus cried, looking after Luna with a sad expression, while I grabbed Sirius's arm, pulling him to the side.

"You idiot! She's _right_!" I hissed, and Sirius glared at me.

"No. We need to fight, she just wants to stay back like a rag doll!"

"She's been in a situation like this for a_ year and half_! Or have you forgotten? She knows what she's doing! And both of you, fighting at a time like this! Shut up, think over what you said, and mourn for Remus." I said, and Sirius sighed, nodding though he still looked slightly defiant as he walked over to the far wall on the right and sat down.

Regulus frowned, watching his older brother, looking back and forth from where Luna had disappeared to where Sirius was. Sighing, he looked sadly at Luna's direction.

"Remus would know what to say." He sighed, and I realized with a jolt he was right. Out of all of us, even Sirius, it was Remus who was closest to Luna, and could get her to calm down in the worst of situations.

"You're right." I agreed, sitting down while Regulus hesitantly walked towards where Sirius was, sitting down next to him.

_**POV Sirius Black**_

I was going over the words in my head like James asked me to. I was still thinking when I was pulled out of my thoughts by Regulus, who had sat down next to me.

"Can we talk?" He asked simply, and I raised an eyebrow. I thought for a moment before nodding.

"Sure. What?" I asked, and Regulus took a deep breath before speaking.

"You really shouldn't have argued with Luna like that." He started, and I rolled my eyes. Here we go...

"And why is that?" I inquired.

"Because not only is she right, but she's unstable at the moment."

I snorted. "I could've told you that."

Regulus scowled at me. "Idiot. You do realize she just saw the person closest to her die right in front of her, right?"

I flinched. "I know, can we please not talk about that?" I whispered, but Regulus kept his gaze on me, and I swore he wasn't even blinking. Weirdo.

"I'll talk about it if I want to. You need to realize that someone might actually know better than you do. Shocker, I know. But she _is_ right. The more you fight, the harder they'll try to break you. I know. Was one, remember?" Regulus asked, and I winced as he showed me the faded dark mark on his arm. Pulling down his sleeve, he continued talking.

"Good. But as hard as it is, keep your mouth shut and let Luna, James and I do the talking unless you want your tongue to be cut out, ok?" Regulus smiled pleasantly when the door opened, and Snape appeared with the food again.

"If it isn't the delivery boy." I sneered, and Snape glared at me, looking around the room.

"Where's the werewolf?" He sneered, when he was flipped onto his back, Luna standing behind him.

"Right here, _Snivellus_." Luna growled, her eyes flashing silver as she glared at the death eater. "And the werewolf isn't very_ happy_ right now, so I suggest you _watch your tone._"

Snape got up, glaring at Luna and all of us before setting the food down. Before he left, he turned to Luna.

"I'd watch your tongue, Swift, you're just as dispensable as Lupin was." He sneered, his eyes widening as the werewolf lunged at him, and Snape shut the door, while Luna chuckled darkly, glaring at the door every so often, as if Snape was still standing there.

**POV Luna Swift**

I finished trying to eat my oatmeal, knowing the attempts were useless. It was tasteless and dry as ever, more like glue then food. James, Regulus, Sirius and I were sitting in a circle, all of us deep in thought.

Remus was dead, we were trapped, and we had no way of escaping. Oh, just peachy. And I'm positive that the others thought I had gone insane. I'm not going to lie and say I was fine, I was in fact a bit disturbed at the moment, but I just saw my best friend, my brother practically, die in front of me. For me.

I felt my eyes watering again, but I pushed the tears back, looking back at the door were Snape had left, the stupid git.

"Oh, kiddies!" A shrill voice cried, and I jumped as Bellatrix appeared, wand in hand. Aw crap. Bellatrix smiled cruelly, looking at all of us.

"And how are our kiddies today? Is Ms. Wolfie missing her friend?" Bellatrix pouted, and a small growl escaped me. Bellatrix laughed, flanked by two stronger looking death eaters who were keeping an eye on Sirius, James, and Regulus, all three who looked like they might kill Bellatrix at any moment, while I stared calmly back at her.

Don't get me wrong, I want to kill her, and painfully, but I knew this was not the time, and I'd prefer to not get any blood on my hands again.

Bellatrix pulled her wand out, grinning madly and I rolled my eyes.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled, and I flinched as the pain hit me. It burned like every other time, like hot knives carving into my flesh slowly, but I had learned to accept it, to keep it the pain from becoming visible. Bellatrix frowned in disappointment, her eyes narrowing.

"I knew we shouldn't have subjected you to that curse so many times." She hissed, and I shrugged helplessly. Bellatrix pointed her wand at me again, an evil glint in her eyes.

"Sectumsempra!" She yelled, and I ducked, yelping as the curse flew over my head. I had only been hit by sectumsempra once, in my seventh year of Hogwarts, and I did not wish to experience it again. Bellatrix pouted, and I growled as a death eater grabbed my arms pinning them behind my back and forcing me to stay still.

"Oh, poor Luna." Bellatrix pouted, her face an inch away from mine. "Maybe you'll get lucky and be able to go be with your other filthy half-breed friend."

"Hey!" Sirius and James yelled at the same time, but the large death eater had punched James in the jaw, and James slammed into Sirius, knocking the two into the ground. Bellatrix turned back to me.

"But before you do, why not we say hello to an_ old friend_?" Bellatrix asked, and before I could do anything, a person was shoved into the room, dressed in death eater robes and looking around the room, startled.

"_You_!" James spat, while Sirius reached for the wand that wasn't there, glaring at the death eater.

"J-James! S-Sirius, L-Luna, u-uh, hi." Peter Pettigrew stuttered, and I snarled in return, getting the sudden urge to punch something.

"I thought you were in Azkaban!" Sirius yelled, and Bellatrix walked over to him.

"Oh, but dear Siri, he was! We got him out though." Bellatrix smiled, turning to Peter.

"Doesn't it feel good to see all your old friends?" Bellatrix asked, before adding, "Well, almost all of them."

Peter looked at her warily and nodded, not meeting anyones eyes. Bellatrix suddenly turned to Regulus, whispering something in his ear. He winced, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before his eyes narrowed.

"No." He hissed, and Bellatrix growled, smacking him in the face and watching as he stumbled backwards, barely keeping his balance.

"Wrong choice." She muttered, before turning to me, smiling cruelly, her dark eyes glinting as she raised her wand, struggling as the death eater held my arms tighter as Bellatrix's eyes narrowed.

"Sectumsempra!" She cried, and I felt the spell hit my body, and several long gashes appeared in my chest and stomach, and the death eater dropped me as I fell to the floor, trying not to yell in pain.

I could see things going blurry, figures rushing towards me and other figures holding them back. Before I could get any words out the world turned black, and my head hit the floor.

_**POV Regulus Black**_

I watched in horror as the spell hit Luna, gashes appearing on her chest and stomach, blood starting to show through her clothes.

The death eater let her go and she fell to the floor, dazed. Sirius and James made to run to her, but the two death eaters held him back while Bellatrix laughed cruelly, and Peter stared at Luna sadly.

"If she dies, move her into the cell and we'll give her to the werewolves." Bellatrix said carelessly before walking upstairs, Peter glancing at us one last time before leaving as well, and the two death eaters shoved Sirius and James to the floor before they too left the room.

Running over I kneeled by Luna's side, relieved when I felt a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.

James and Sirius quickly recovered and ran over, looking at Luna worriedly. Her shirt was rapidly becoming red, her hair falling into her expressionless face, and I quickly shrugged off my robe and wrapped it around her, shivering as the cold of the dungeon passed through my shirt.

"Is she ok?" Sirius asked quietly, and I nodded as Luna started to come to, groaning.

"Bloody _hell_..." She muttered, and Sirius chuckled slightly as Luna opened her eyes, first silver before going to sky blue. "What happened?"

"Bellatrix hit you with sectumsempra, but you'll be fine." I smiled weakly, and Luna nodded. She started to sit up before she held her head, sinking back to the floor.

"Ow." She muttered, wincing. James smiled at her, looking relieved as he stood up and looked around the room.

"We need to leave. Now more then ever. Luna, when this place was under attack, when we found you, how did you get out of the cells?" James asked, and Luna sighed.

"I was half-starved, James. I transformed into my dog form and slipped through the bars. But we all don't have enough time to become that thin, and I doubt a stag would fit through these bars at all." Luna commented, and Sirius frowned, thinking.

"We could grab Snape's wand?" He suggested, and I shrugged.

"That's only one wand, though. There's four of us."

"We could share?" Sirius suggested weakly, and James shook his head.

"That would be difficult. As in impossible difficult."

"It was a good idea, though." Luna commented before turning into a white dog, though it's white fur was streaked with blood and dirt. The dog walked up the the cell door and after a moment stuck it's head through, carefully wiggling it's way through the bars before it was out, and Luna changed back, looking excited.

"I can still fit!" She hissed excitedly, and I nodded. Perhaps we could use this..

"Luna, do they know that you're an animagus?" I asked, and Luna shrugged from the other side of the bars.

"I don't think so."

"Then leave. Escape the house, get Dumbledore." I hissed, and Luna sighed.

"Impossible. The doorknobs are high and I won't be able to open them in dog form. Besides, I'd think they'd notice if a white dog went prancing around the house and one of the prisoners were missing."

"Point taken." I mused as Luna changed back into dog form and slipped back into the cell, the dog's ears alert. Luna sniffed around for a moment before going to the back of the room and pulling something out that was long and black.

"A robe?" James asked, and Luna shook her head, changing back to human form.

"A blanket. The nights are cold." Luna shrugged, putting the blanket around my shoulders, and I smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Luna." I said, and Luna nodded, wincing slightly as she sat down, a hand to a spot right above the center of her chest, and James and Sirius looked at her sadly.

"What?" I asked, and Luna glared at James and Sirius before turning to me.

"Two years ago I was stabbed by Bellatrix. It still hurts some times, and with all the new injuries, it hurts a little bit more then usual. I'm fine though, honestly." She sighed, looking morose.

"My thoughts keep switching to Remus." She sighed, a tear falling down her pale face, her eyes sky blue, her dark hair framing her face well. For a moment, I was able to understand just why my brother fell in love with her two years ago.

Not only was she smart, funny, and brave, but she was beautiful too. And I'm saying this strictly from a observant point-of-view, or something tells me Sirius would kick my ass. But it was still true. Even now, in the darkest of places she stood out, almost shining, you could say.

She wasn't our saving Grace, or our beautiful Hope, but she was our Luna. She was our moon, something that was always there in the background, but once you took notice of it, you would see that it's the true beauty of the night sky.

**_Soo... who isn't mad at me for killing off Remus? Hehe... Um, okay. Review? Please? I love you... Review?_**

**_THanks for reading another chapter. I'm sorry that the posting of the chapters have been so irregular, but something it up with my laptop, and it's not working correctly so I can only post every so often._**

**_Luv ya,_**

**_-Leyla_**


	15. Planning

**CHAPTER 15**

_Planning_

**_POV James Potter_**

I looked out of the solitary window in our cell, thinking.

Luna was hurt, Remus was... dead, and the rest of us didn't have a clue of what to do.

"What can we do?" I asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"We could dig our way through the walls?" He asked, and Luna stared at him, rolling her eyes.

"You can't possibly be serious."

"Oh, but I am! I've always been Sirius."

"No, Sirius, I mean you can't be serious."

"Why not? You were fine with me being Sirius before."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! Can we move on now?" Sirius asked and Luna thought for a moment before answering.

"No."

"You can't be serious!"

"You're right, you are."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?" Luna asked, watching with amusement as Sirius's own joke backfired on him.

"I mean are you serious, not the name Sirius!"

"Then you should have pointed that out earlier.

"You're kidding me."

"No I'm not, I'm Luna."

"What?" Sirius asked weakly, and Luna smiled smugly.

"Exactly."

"You make no sense, woman."

"And that's what makes this game fun." Luna laughed quietly.

"You're hurting my brain."

"You have a brain?"

"No."

"Then why did you say you did?"

"Because I felt like it."

"That's not a very good reason."

"Shut up, I'm trying to think." Sirius said, and Luna's eyes widened.

"Thanks for the warning." She snorted, and Sirius frowned at her.

"What's that suppo-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Regulus asked, and we all turned to him. Regulus glared at Luna and Sirius before speaking.

"You two talk nonstop, it's hurting my head."

"You can't be serious!" Luna cried, and Regulus groaned.

"Of course he's not! I am!" Sirius cried before the three of us started laughing, and Regulus rolled his eyes.

"You guys are insane."

"But that's why you love us." Luna smiled, a small shadow of her old self reappearing when there was a clang from the stairs and a groan. We all became expressionless as mutters and footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"Who is it?" Luna hissed, and I shrugged as the door opened.

"Get in there, filth." A man growled, and a second later, someone was shoved in, brushing themselves off and standing up, looking back at the door as it shut.

"How_ rude_." Remus muttered before looking at us, the four of us stunned.

"Remus?" Sirius asked quietly, and Luna smiled, hurrying over and pulling him into a tight hug before inspecting him.

"You're alive!" I gaped, and Remus smiled, wincing as Luna's had brushed over his neck.

"Er, yes."

"That sounded intelligent." Sirius snorted, but he too looked extremely happy that his friend was back. Luna pulled down the neck of his shirt, were pink lines were, shaped in the form of a massive bite mark.

"I can't believe you didn't die. What happened?" Luna asked, looking up at Remus, studying his face. Remus sighed, sitting down before explaining.

"After you were..er, ushered out of the room, I was declared dead. Fortunately, someone noticed I was breathing before I was...disposed of." Remus grimaced, and Luna nodded, before frowning.

"Then why did it take you so long for them to bring you back down here?"

"Ah, they decided to...er.. experiment.." Remus trailed off, and Luna's eyes flashed towards his wrist, where a small shiny thing was. Looking closer, it looked like a tiny silver freckle.

"They put it into your blood system." Regulus said quietly, and Remus nodded. Sirius for a moment looked at Luna oddly before he turned back to Remus.

"It can't kill you, right?"

"Of course not. It's a bit uncomfortable, but it'll go away. But it's a large amount, you can tell by how much is in shows in your skin, the more there is, the worse it is. Like if I had two dots, I would be dead within... the next two years." Remus calculated, and this time Sirius's eyes widened.

"But- but then L-"

"Lovely." Luna cut in threw Sirius's stuttering, glaring at him before turning back to Remus, staring at his badly-scared neck. "Simply horrific."

"They're not too bad." Remus protested, and Luna sighed.

"I guess you're right." She shrugged.

_**POV Sirius Black**_

The silver could kill her. She lied.

Remus said that two small dots could kill a werewolf in two years. Luna had a _whole_ _freaking_ '_W_' on her neck. How long would that take? She was dying. Even if it didn't look like it, day by day, she was dying.

Why did she lie? I can't believe she lied. She said it was just uncomfortable. She seemed to forget to mention the fact that she was dying. Why didn't she tell me? Why? Why died Luna lie, why on earth would she cover that up?

"Can we talk?" I asked, looking at Luna. Luna frowned, glaring at me and shook her head. Really? She's mad at me? For what! For being mad that she lied about dying? _Girls_.

"That's a demand." I said through gritted teeth, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"And I'm still not listening."

At this, James stood up dramatically.

"REBELLION!" He cried, and the four of us stared at him until he sat down, shrugging.

"What?"

"Goofball." Remus rolled his eyes, and I smiled at my friend. At least Moony wasn't dead. But now I found out Luna was dying. Great.

Luna had changed into her dog form and was sitting down on the floor, glaring at me before she closed her eyes, looking peaceful...for a dog, that is.

"I'm so glad you lived!" James nearly shrieked, hugging Remus tightly. Remus looked slightly taken aback, and Luna opened an eye, glaring at the two.

She let out a small growl before walking over and nudging James away from Remus, who nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, Moonpaw." Remus sighed, brushing himself off and picking himself off of the floor. Moonpaw nodded, looking around at the three of us before sitting down, looking warily at James, who was grinning like a mad man.

"I think he's lost it." Regulus whispered quietly, and I nodded in agreement. James suddenly shook his head, laughing.

"Don't creep us out like that!" I cried once I realized he was fine, and my best friend had decided to not go physco on us.

"What, did you think I went _mad_?" James asked, and I nodded as Remus frowned.

"You do realize we've been living in a cell, captured by death eaters, for the past four days, and we're laughing like we're having the time of our lives?" Remus asked, and James shrugged.

"We're used to it by now." James shrugged, and I frowned.

"That's kinda sad."

"But it's true." James shrugged when Regulus's eyes widened.

"I got it!" He cried, and we all turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I know a way out of here!" Regulus said, and we all turned to him.

"What?" Remus asked, and Luna walked over, transforming back to human form.

"Spill." She said calmly before she flinched, and I frowned, looking at her sadly. For a second the silver had flashed, though the others had missed it.

"Luna, since we know you can slip through the bars, and Sirius...well, you should be able to fit. You two need to get out and find the keys, then come down and unlock the cage. We can find the fireplace and escape, or run out the door to the apparition point, though you guys should be in their animal forms. THey might be a little taken aback if a giant stag charges passed them." Regulus said thoughtfully, and James laughed at the thought. Luna nodded before speaking.

"The place has got to be crawling with death eaters, though." She pointed out, and Regulus nodded.

"I'll make a distraction." He said, but Luna frowned.

"What kind?"

"I'll make something blow up." Regulus shrugged, and Luna nodded.

"Very well, just don't die." She said, and Regulus smiled wistfully.

"Of course not." He agreed, and Remus nodded.

"Now that that's settled, when do we go for it?"

"Tonight." Regulus breathed. "Let's do it tonight."

"And what's plan B?" I asked, and Regulus shrugged.

"There is no plan B. It's either we get it right..or we die."

"Ah. Comforting." I said, and Regulus smiled.

"Well, at least you won't mess up now."

"You got that right." I muttered, looking up at the sky and waiting for the night to come.

oooooooooooooo

**_OH! You guy's reactions to Remus dying CRACKED ME UP! I was laughing so hard XD XD Okay, so who loves me for not killing Remus? I mean really guys, he's one of my favorite characters, I'd die if I killed him off! I Nearly died when J.K did! But that was great, o my gosh..._**

**_Anyways, don't forget to review! I want your OPINIONS!  
>Luv ya,<em>**

**_-Leyla _**

**_P.S I have a new poll on my profile, please check it out! _**


	16. Escape Attempt

_**ARGH! I am so sorry this took so long to post! My laptop was once again being difficult, so I wasn't able to post ANYTHING. Thanks for your patience!**_

_**Luv ya,**_

**_-Leyla_**

**CHAPTER 16**

_Plan in Action_

**POV Remus Lupin**

I watched as the moon rose. Thankfully it wasn't full, but it did signal that something would be going on tonight. We would escape. Or die. But in it's own way, that could be a way of escaping, too.

"You ready?" I asked when there was a clanging from upstairs as a door swung open, soon followed by footsteps and another clang as two death eater's entered the room, walking towards where Regulus was sitting on the floor and roughly grabbing him by his arms.

"Hey! Let him go!" Sirius yelled, but was silenced by a large fist to his stomach. Regulus jerked his arms out of the death eater's grip, brushing himself off. He exchanged looks with Luna, who was looking confused.

_'It's part of the plan. Wait for ten minutes before you start.'_ Regulus mouthed at her before being shoved out the door, and James sighed, running a hand through his hair, leaning against the wall.

"So, you have any idea where the keys are?" I asked, and Luna sighed, shrugging.

"I'm guessing either right upstairs, on Bellatrix, or in her room. She's the one they belong too." Luna shrugged, and Sirius grimaced.

"We have to go into her room?" He shuddered, and Luna nodded.

"Rumor has it that she keeps the keys in her room, in the bedside table."

"Great." Sirius said sarcastically, and Luna shrugged before taking a deep breath.

"I think we're good. Come on." She said, but before they left the four of us wrapped our arms around each other. Purely marauder-ly love, people. After a few seconds Sirius spoke up.

"If you two are done suffocating us, can we go?" He asked, and James laughed, patting him on the back before Sirius transformed into a dog, and Luna smiled at me, and I gave her the thumbs up as she too transformed.

Luna, now in the form of a white dog stretched before slipping through the bars, followed by Sirius, who got stuck half-way through.

Luna snorted impatiently as Sirius scrambled through, falling over on his face.

"Nice Padfoot." I chuckled, and Sirius stuck his tongue at me before he and Luna disappeared through the door, leaving James and I alone.

"So, now we wait." James sighed, sitting on the floor, and I nodded.

"Now we wait."

_**POV Luna Swift**_

I quickly moved up the staircase, Sirius following behind me. As we approached the door, I looked around before shifting into human form and quickly turning the knob and walking through, transforming as fast as I could so I was back to being a dog by the time I appeared on the other side of the door.

Sirius cocked his head to the side.

'_Where do we go now?'_

'_I'm thinking!'_ I growled, looking around before I continued walking up, and up, and up. I was starting to wonder how far down we were when the stairs came to a stop, and I used my paws to open the door.

Looking around, it only took me a few seconds to realize I was in the living room. Turning to Sirius, we were walking across the room when we came to a door. Sirius transformed and started to try and open it, but he was moving it the wrong way.

Transforming back myself, I stood up and walked over, fumbling with the doorknob when I heard footsteps coming towards the room, heart-stoppingly close. I caught the glimpse of a door knob turning when I felt myself being forcefully shoved into a closet, the door slamming shut behind us.

_**POV Sirius Black**_

I shut the door behind us, motioning for Luna to be quiet as even more footsteps entered the room.

"Did you hear that?" A man's voice asked.

"No. You're probably just hearing things again, Goyle." Another man's voice replied, and there was a cough before the footsteps left the room, though I could still hear them wandering around the house.

Turning to Luna, I sighed.

"Are you ok?" I asked, and Luna nodded, keeping her eyes on the door.

"I'm good." She said, and I nodded, studying her face.

"You didn't tell me that '_W'_ on the back of your neck is killing you." I mentioned casually, and Luna sighed.

"I didn't want you to freak out."

"How long do you have?" I asked quietly, and Luna shrugged.

"I don't know. Part of it is only in the first layer of skin, I don't know how much is in my blood system, though by the feel of it, I should have two years, maybe a year and a half." Luna said, looking down.

"You should've told me."

"And say what?" Luna demanded. "Oh, sorry to bug you but I'm dying?"

"Ya, something like that would work." I snapped back, and Luna glared at me before it softened.

"There wasn't anything you can do. Now can we focus, they're gone." Luna said, and before I could get a word out she slipped out of the closet and transformed into a white dog, and I followed soon after.

We quickly made our way through the house, when I heard a loud yell come from the room to the right.

"How's that feel, huh?" A man's voice growled, and there was another yell, followed by laughing.

"We'll show you what happens to traitors, Black." A gruff voice added, and Luna growled quietly her ears flat against her head, her eyes turning silver, which was actually quite scary when she was a dog. There was a loud grunt from the room, and I winced but kept moving forward.

Right now the best thing we could do for Regulus was find the keys. Nudging Luna's side, she nodded and reluctantly followed me through the hall. We searched around for a few minutes when Luna started whining, scratching at a door on the right.

I quickly transformed and opened it, walking in. Luna walked in behind me, getting to her feet and coughing, waving her hand around as dust flew around the room.

"Uhg, doesn't she ever vacuum in here?" Luna muttered, and I shrugged, walking over to the bed.

"You see anything?" I asked, and Luna started searching through the door, her eyes searching every crack for a sign of a key. All the sudden she flinched, her hand going to her neck.

"Are you ok?" I asked, making to go towards her but Luna held a hand up.

"I'm fine. Get back to searching, we don't have much time." Luna sighed, and I walked over a desk,

Looking around, I opened the drawer. Inside was an empty photo frame, a spare wand, a spare wand, I'll be taking _that_, thank you very much, a key, a letter, a brooch- _oh_.

Reaching in, I grabbed the key, studying it.

"I think I found it!" I called over to Luna, and in a flash she was by my side.

"Let me see." She said, reaching out for it. She grabbed it, wincing a bit but continued to study it.

"Silver. Right shape. Padfoot, this is it." Luna said, and I took the key away from her, putting it in my pocket.

"Good. Let's go." I said, and together was transformed and hurried out the door, running as quietly and as fast as we could, racing past the living room. Running down the stairs, we transformed as we re-entered the dungeons.

Remus was pacing in front of the door, while James was sitting on the floor, looking bored.

"We got it!" Luna said, and both of their heads snapped up, smiling.

"Great!" James said, and I quickly put the ket in the whole, grinning when it gave a satisfying _'click'_ and the door swung open.

"Come on!" James said, and together we ran up the stairs.

"Hurry, James, take care of the door!" Luna ordered, and James nodded before becoming a giant stag mid-run, charging forward. Making our way into the living room, we only had a few seconds before the death eater's caught on.

There was a loud "HEY!" From one of the death eaters before they started running into the living room, wands drawn.

"Stupefy!" A death eater yelled, and Remus ducked as a flash of light passed over his head.

"GET THEM! THEY'RE ESCAPING!" Another yelled, and I pulled out the spare wand.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, but the death eaters were quick and easily dodged it.

"Sirius! Wand!" Luna yelled, and I threw the wand to her.

"Petrificus Tortalus!" Luna yelled, and the death eater fell to the floor.

"Wand!" Remus called, and Luna threw it to him while James was working on getting the door down and taking out a few death eaters along the way. I, meanwhile was hitting as many death eater's as I could with a chair.

"Sirius! Look out!" Remus yelled, pointing behind me. But before I could react, there was a loud _'clang'_ and the death eater fell over, Luna standing behind him with a frying pan in her hand.

"Found the kitchen." Luna breathed, brushing hair out of her face. I nodded before ducking a spell, and Remus and I switched weapons, Remus grabbing the chair while I grabbed the wand.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, and a death eater hit the floor, while Luna ducked a spell coming her way.

"Remus! Watch out!" Luna yelled, and Remus turned around just in time to duck as a spell shot over his head. There was a loud slam as James banged into the door again, and Remus nodded, making his way over to help him.

"Stop!" A woman's voice yelled, and everyone turned to see Bellatrix standing there, Regulus kneeling on the floor in front of her, a knife to his throat.

"_Stop_. Or I promise you, one more move and Reggie's life will be cut a bit shorter then I planned." Bellatrix grinned evilly.

_**POV Remus Lupin**_

I watched as Regulus stiffened as the knife was pressed against his throat, a small amount of blood dripping down his neck.

"Let him go!" Luna growled, and Bellatrix laughed gleefully.

"Oh, but don't you see the fun in it! He's a good bargaining tool." Bellatrix beamed, and Luna growled, only being stopped by Sirius grabbed her arm, jerking her back.

"Bellatrix, you don't have to do that, we know when we're outnumbered. Let Regulus go." I said calmly, and Bellatrix stared at me like 'What kinda crazy are you talking?'

"You may, but I assure you your friends don't." Bellatrix said, and Sirius glared at her, his wand still drawn.

"We'll fight until we win or die." He spat, and Bellatrix laughed gleefully.

"Well, we wouldn't be suffering any loses. You're pitifully outnumbered, dear Siri! Besides, if you even give a hint of resistance, I'll be forced to make good on my promise." Bellatrix said, pressing the knife harder into Regulus's throat, and Regulus closed his eyes, paling.

Luna looked conflicted, and Sirius looked at his brother with worry as he tried to break free, but Bellatrix just laughed, the knife pressing into Regulus's throat harder the more Regulus struggled.

"Just let him go. He's done nothing!" James said, having been forced back into himself by the death eaters. Bellatrix frowned.

"Ooh, but yes he has! He betrayed out Lord! And he must pay." Bellatrix growled, pulling the knife way, leaving a small scratch in Regulus's neck. Regulus glared at her from where he was on the floor, rubbing his neck.

"M-maybe we can just let them go.." A death eater from the left trailed off, identified as Peter Pettigrew. Bellatrix glared at him, and Peter shrunk, looking down.

"Never mind."

"I thought so." Bellatrix said coldly before turning to two death eaters.

"Yaxley, Dolohov, take them back downstairs and keep them apart. We don't anymore interruptions." Bellatrix said, her voice filled with boredom when there was a loud yell.

"NO!" Regulus yelled, and in a swift motion he grabbed the knife from Bellatrix, plunging it into his own stomach. He looked down at the knife and the blood before falling to the floor.

The few moments after that were quiet until Bellatrix yelled.

"NO!" She shrieked in fury, and we only had a few minutes to react while the death eaters were still shocked.

"GO!" I yelled, and before the death eaters could make a move James and Sirius shoved the door open, moonlight flooding the hallway.

"No! Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix yelled, nearly hitting Luna, who was shoved out of the way by Sirius.

"Hurry, get out the door." Sirius whispered to Luna, sending spells towards the death eaters. Luna shook her head, carefully walked over to Regulus and helping him to his feet.

"Come on, Reg. Just a few more feet." Luna soothed while Sirius and I occupied the death eaters, throwing things and dodging spells.

"NO! THEY'RE ESCAPING! GET THEM!" Bellatrix shrieked, and I watched as James helped Luna get Regulus out. We waited a few seconds before running out ourselves as fast as we could.

We ran straight into the forest, the death eaters still yelling back at the house. sending spells towards the trees.

"Hurry!" Luna hissed, and in one twist we apparated, free at last.

_**POV Luna Swift**_

I grunted as we landed, somewhere in a forest, bird's songs surrounding us, and the faint whisper of a creak somewhere in the distance, wind brushing out faces and the fresh air filling our lungs. I, however, didn't notice until later, as my thoughts were occupied.

"Reg, come on. You'll be fine, we're free." I said, tears starting to fall down my face as the youngest Black started to look dazed, starting to fall into a sleep he would never wake up from.

"I-I-I" Regulus stuttered, but Sirius stopped him, sitting by his side.

"Shh, it's ok Reg." Sirius said, and Regulus nodded. The sky was a dark blue, and there was little moonlight that shone through the trees, yet it was just enough so I was able to see. Remus and James had started to search around the area making sure it was safe, and I could hear them in the distance, yet the only thing I was focusing on was Regulus.

"Why'd you do it, Regulus?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I-I wasn't going to be a tool." Regulus answered, opening his eyes. "I wasn't gonna let them stop you because of me."

"You did a brave thing, Reg." Sirius smiled sadly, and Regulus nodded before looking down at his stomach, the hilt of the knife gleaming in the moonlight.

"You'll be fine, we can heal you. Sirius, where's the wand?" I asked, and Sirius shook his head, looking sad and helpless.

"I lost it when we were apparating." He said sadly, looking pained, and Regulus shuddered before speaking.

"N-no. Let me go. I'll be fine." Regulus said, and I brushed the hair out of his face.

"I love you." Sirius said after a moment, and I had a feeling that wasn't something he had ever said to Regulus before. Regulus smiled peacefully.

"I love you, too. And Sirius? Choose right." Regulus said, and though Sirius looked puzzled, he nodded. Regulus nodded before looking at me, his eyes starting to glaze over.

"Thank you. You kept you're promise." He said, and I shook my head, tears falling down my face.

"That's not true, you should be ok, you shouldn't be dying!" I cried, but Regulus shook his head weakly.

"No. I am safe...I'm going to a better home. I won't ever have to run, or hide again. I'm free." Regulus smiled weakly, and I nodded, biting my lip to keep my sobs under control, my body shaking. Sirius was holding onto Regulus's hand like a lifeline, his face morose as his little brother started breathing his last breaths, his heart beating it's last few seconds.

"I'll say hello to Perseus for you, shall I?" Regulus asked after a moment, and I smiled despite the tears going down my face as Regulus grabbed my hand, hanging onto Sirius and my hands, looking up at us.

"I think you'll be good friends." I said, and one last smile graced his face before his head softly fell to the ground, and I felt my heart stop as I looked at the body of Regulus Black, his hand becoming cold and still in mine, and his heart beat one last time before all fell still.

OoOoOoOoOOOoOoOoOoO

_**SO, who doesn't hate me for killing Reggie? Did I make you CRY? Because if I did, then good, cause that's what I was aiming for. Not that I'm cruel, but I'm trying to twist my stories to touch the readers hearts, and for, well, I get teary-eyed myself.**_

_**I hope you all have had a good week, I know I have. **_

_**I luv ya all, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!**_

_**-Leyla**_


	17. Conversations

**Chapter 17**

_Conversations_

_**POV Sirius Black**_

I kicked a rock, walking to no exact location, feeling cold.

Regulus was dead. There was no way around it. He had died, right in front of my eyes, and I couldn't stop it. I felt so... so _helpless._ If I hadn't lost that wand, maybe we would be celebrating our freedom instead of mourning for a brother and a friend.

I kicked the rock again, frowning when I heard a loud _'plunk'_ as it hit some type of water. Following it's path, I soon came to a stop by a river bed, the water sparkling in the moonlight.

Sitting down, I looked down at the water, my reflection faint but visible.

What had Regulus meant about choosing right? I started mulling over the options in my head, when I heard a few cracks coming from farther down the stream, so I went to investigate. Quietly, I walked over to see Luna sitting by the water, her skin white in the moonlight, standing out against her dark hair.

She seemed to be talking to herself when she grabbed a rock throwing in the water. It fell with a _'plunk_' as the water rippled, and Luna sighed, tears quietly falling down her face.

I hesitated a moment before walking over, sitting down next to her.

"Hey." I greeted, and Luna nodded, still staring at the water.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?" I asked, and Luna sighed, shrugging.

"I'm ok, I guess. You?"

"I'm fine." I sighed, and Luna nodded, looking up at the sky.

"You think Regulus is with Perseus?" She asked after a moment, and I nodded.

"Probably."

"They'll be good for each other, I think. They both have similar backgrounds." Luna mused, and I nodded.

"You know, you never really told me about your old life." I commented, and Luna rolled her eyes.

"And I don't have any plans to do so. It's my old life, Sirius, it doesn't matter anymore." Luna said, throwing another rock into the river. Sighing, I laid down putting my arms behind my head.

"What do we do now? We don't have wands, we don't have a tent.." I trailed off, and Luna shrugged.

"We do whatever we can until someone finds us." Luna shrugged. I nodded.

"Ah. Looks like we'll just have to cuddle for warmth." I suggested, grinning. Luna rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.

"Haha, very funny, dog-boy." Luna said, throwing another rock in the river. After a few seconds I let out a heavy sigh, a small tear unwillingly going down my face.

"I think I should've been a better brother." I said after a moment, and Luna turned, looking at me.

"Sirius, you were a good brother when it counted. Sure, a few times you were a jerk, but you got over it."

"But I mean, even during my Hogwarts years, I-"

"Sirius, not everyone is a good sibling all the time."

"But you and Perseus, it seems like you always got along-" I started, but Luna cut me off, laughing slightly.

"No, not always. We had our fights, too. I'd get mad at him for leaving, becoming an auror and leaving me behind at the house. We weren't the perfect pair of kids, Sirius, I promise. The reason we were so close is because we were all each other had. Our parents hated us, and that's what kept us together." Luna sighed, running a hand through her hair. I nodded.

"Oh."

"I'm going to miss him." I said after a few seconds, a few tears escaping my eyes, and Luna nodded, biting her lip.

"He was right though. He never has to run or hide anymore. Never wondering which second will be his last. He's free." She said, and I sat up, tears starting to fall down my face.

"I feel like I failed him. I just wish I could go back in time, and be better, I should've done _something_." I hate to admit it, but I was crying. Luna nodded, tears falling down her own face.

"Sirius, it's ok. We all have those moments, it happens to almost everybody. There's not a second I don't wish I could go back and stop one of Perseus's and my fights. It's ok to be upset." Luna comforted, and I nodded, wiping my face off unsuccesfully, as new tears kept replacing the old.

"I had so many chances to talk to him, and I just shoved him away." I said. "I could've helped him avoid this. I should've been there. But I wasn't. I left him first."

"Sirius." Luna's voice said sharply. "This was not you're fault. What Regulus did was his own actions, made by no one else. I think he might be upset to see you beating yourself up over this. Regulus sacrificed himself so we could escape. He made a distraction, he avoided being used. He was smart. And now it's our turn to be smart, and sitting around moping and blaming ourselves isn't going to help. Yes, we need some time to adjust, but it is not your fault. It isn't anybody's fault. Regulus knew what he was doing."

Luna's voice softened slightly, her eyes sympathetic, her dark hair framing her face that shone in the moonlight. She looked like some sort of moon-faery or whatever you want to call it.

"Luna, I-" I started, trying to ignore the aching in my chest, but Luna held a hand up.

"It's fine, Sirius. I'm gonna go find Moony and Prongs...We have work to get to." Luna started before adding: "And please, for the love of all that is magical, don't tell anyone about the _'W'_ on my neck. _Please_."

"No! They need to know-" I started, but Luna cut me off.

"_No_. It's my job to tell them, and I'll tell them when I feel like it's the right time." Luna said, and I made to protest before I sighed in defeat.

"Fine." I pouted, and Luna nodded.

"Thank you, Padfoot."

"No problem, Moonpaw."

And then she left. Leaving me behind with my thoughts and the river, shining in the moonlight.

_**POV James Potter**_

I looked sadly at the grave of Regulus Black, the dagger glittering on top of the mound of dirt, shining red and silver. It was our only way of marking the grave, something that would stand out against the rocks.

"He was a good kid." Remus sad solemnly, and I nodded in agreement.

"He was." I sighed, watching as Luna approached, looking sad.

"Hey guys. Padfoot is back by the river, he'll be fine though." She assured us, looking around at the makeshift tent we had made. Using a tree we carefully bent a few branches down so it made a small tent, big enough for three people to sleep comfortably, while one of us would stand watch at all times.

"So, who takes first shift?" Remus asked suddenly, and Luna sighed.

"I will. I don't think I could sleep anyways." She shrugged, and Remus wrapped an arm around her, hugging her with one arm.

"You sure?" He asked quietly, and Luna nodded.

"Ya, Moony, I'll be fine." She smiled weakly, and Remus sighed.

"Ok. Let me know if you're getting tired though, and I'll come replace you." Remus said, and Luna nodded before Remus slipped into the makeshift tent, disappearing from sight.

"You said Sirius was at the river?" I asked, and Luna nodded, pointing towards a group of trees.

"Just follow the sound." She said, and nodding, I walked through the trees, my ears straining for some sound of water.

"Sirius?" I asked, and turned the corner to see Sirius standing, skipping rocks on the water. He looked over at me and nodded, looking troubled.

"Hey Prongs." He greeted, throwing a rock into the water. It skipped twice before it sunk to the bottom of the water.

"How you doing?" I asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"I'm ok." He said, and I nodded, throwing a rock into the water also.

"We have camp all set up, Luna's standing guard." I said, and Sirius frowned.

"Really? She should be sleeping, she needs her rest."

"We thought so too, but apparently she disagrees." I shrugged, and Sirius laughed slightly.

"She's really doesn't know what's good for her, does she?" He asked.

"Well, she did date you, so obviously not." I joked, and Sirius rolled his eyes, though he looked slightly troubled.

"What? I was just joking." I said, and Sirius nodded, biting his lip before turning to me.

"Do you like Mary?" He asked, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, Sirius. You've asked me that millions of times before." I said before adding curiously. "Do you like her?"

Sirius nodded. "Well, duh. She's my fiancee', Prongs, of course I like her."

"But you don't love her." I pointed out, and Sirius looked slightly flustered.

"That's not true!"

"You know what, I think it is. Mary's great and all, but you don't love her." I accused, and Sirius glared at me before sighing, looking down.

"I don't know anymore."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, and Sirius threw a rock into the river.

"I'm still working that out." He sighed, and I nodded.

"I guess I can understand that. Just Sirius? Be careful."

"I will be, Prongs." He said after a moment, and I smiled, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"Come on, let's hit that sack." I said, and together we walked back to the camp.

OooooooOOOoooooO

_**Aw, James and Sirius, you gotta love them. Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter, sorry it took awhile for me to post it! Stupid laptop! *smashes laptop* ANYWAYS, hope you all have a great day! I'll update ASAP!**_

_**Luv ya,**_

_**-Leyla**_


	18. Home Again

**((Please review! It makes me feel happy ^^))**

**Chapter 19**

_POV Remus Lupin_

I woke up to someone tapping me on the shoulder.

"Moony! Moony, wake up!" A voice hissed, and I opened my eyes to see Luna looking at me, her eyes dancing excitedly.

"What?" I groaned, and Luna smiled.

"There's a muggle town up north, we're going. Hopefully we can figure out where we are and get back home."

Her words woke me up.

"Come on then, let's go!" I said, walking out of the makeshift tent and into the fresh air, the sun shining through the trees. James and Sirius were talking under a tree, but they both smiled when they saw me.

"Guys ready?" Luna asked, and they both nodded before we started making our way north. Since none of us had anything to carry, it was a relatively short trip.

"Finally!" Sirius said in relief, and together we walked into the town. Most of it was deserted, and many of the houses, or what used to be houses, had scorch marks on them, looking like they were torn apart.

"Death eaters." James said grimly, and Luna nodded, biting her lip as she picked up a little doll that was lying in a puddle of mud.

"These poor people." She sighed, looking back at us sadly before setting the doll down by the closest house, leaving it there like a tombstone for a grave.

"Think there's anybody near by?" I asked, and James shrugged before Sirius did something the caught us all off guard.

"_HEY_!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, causing a nearby flock of crows to fly off. We all turned to him, and Sirius grinned, shrugging.

"Well, at least if anybody is here they now know that we are, too."

"Like hiding death eaters?" Luna suggested, and Sirius paled when a several cracks filled the small town, wands pointed at us before a deep voice spoke, obviously confused.

"Potter?" A voice asked, and we all looked to see the auror Kingsley Shacklebolt was staring at the four of us, looking surprised. James sighed in relief, grinning.

"Hello, Kingsley." He greeted, and Kingsley motioned for the other auror's to put their wands down.

"What, may I ask, are you doing here? You've been gone for months." He said, and James sighed.

"It's a long story." James replied, and Kingsley nodded.

"Very well. I'll have you all sent to Dumbledore." Kingsley said smoothly. Having been loyal to Dumbledore, and being in charge of the aurors, Kingsley knew very well that we had been on a mission for Dumbledore.

"What? Shouldn't we take them to the ministry?" A younger auror asked, but Kingsley waved him off, making a portkey.

"That will take you to Dumbledore." He said, bidding us farewell before we grabbed the portkey, taking off in a flash blue, swirling around until we landed in the familiar office of Albus Dumbledore.

"I don't see what the mat- Oh!" McGonagle cried, looking at us as we stood up, brushing ourselves off. Sirius grinned.

"Hey Minnie."

"Black! Potter! Lupin! What are you doing here?" McGonagle asked, looking at Luna with wide eyes when she stood up, as McGonagle had not been one of the few who had seen Luna when she was rescued from Lestrange Mansion.

"Luna!" McGonagle said, and Luna waved weakly, sitting down. Dumbledore looked at the four of us calmly before speaking.

"How good to see you again." He said, smiling and Luna nodded.

"Simply peachy." She said, and Dumbledore turned to McGonagle.

"Would you excuse us, Minerva?" He asked, and McGonagle huffed before walking out of the office. Dumbledore turned back to us, the smile falling off his face as he gestured for us to sit down, pulling three things out of his desk: A ring, a locket, and Hufflepuff's cup.

"Explain." Was all Dumbledore said, so we did.

We told him about going to the Gaunt house and finding the ring, and how at the water cave we found Regulus, then the dinner party at the Black's house and the retrieval of the locket, how we found out where the next horcruxe might be in the Lestrange's vault, and how we got it, followed by our imprisonment, that one awful full moon, and our escape.

Dumbledore simply kept nodding until we were finished, and it took a few minutes before he spoke.

"Well done. I must admit, getting that far into Gringotts unnoticed is impressive, and it was wise of you to send Lily ahead and to me. I am very, very proud of you all." Dumbledore said finally, before frowning.

"And where, may I ask, is young Regulus?" He asked, and Luna looked down, biting her lip while Sirius took a deep breath before explaining.

"He killed himself as a distraction so we could get away. He died in the forest we apparated to." Sirius said quietly, and Dumbledore nodded sadly.

"Brave, young Regulus." He sighed before changing the subject. "Very well. I assume you are all tired, and I have alerted Lily and Mary, they'll be waiting for you at Potter mansion."

"Home!" James sighed in relief, and Dumbledore smiled before looking down at the horcruxes while James and Sirius left through the floo.

"Luna, may I speak with you for a moment?" Dumbledore asked, and Luna hesitated before nodding, turning to me.

"I'll be right there, Moony." She said, and nodding, I stepped into the fireplace.

"Potter mansion!" I said before taking off in a flash of green.

**POV Luna Swift**

I watched as Remus left the office before I turned back to Dumbledore.

"What is it, headmaster?"

"Luna, please call me Albus." Dumbledore said, gesturing me to sit down again. I did so, and Dumbledore took a deep breath before speaking.

"Luna, I assume you already know the abilities this ring has?" Dumbledore asked, holding up the ring we had found in the Gaunt's house. The black stone in the ring shimmered in the light of the sun, the carving of the triangle, circle and line visible against the black. The gold band that held it seemed to shine.

"Um, ya. It allowed me to talk to Perseus, and my grandmother."

"Have you ever heard the tale of the deathly hallows?" He asked, and I nodded. It was a story Perseus and I would talk about during late summer nights in a farmer's field a block away from our house.

"Very well. You have heard of the wand, the cloak, and the-"

"Ring." I finished, staring at the ring he currently held up. He didn't actually think- yup, he did.

"You mean to say that this is the ring from the story?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly, looking at the ring wistfully before handing it to me, placing it carefully in my hand.

"I do not trust myself with it." Dumbledore said, and the expression on his face told me to not ask questions. I held the ring in my hand, staring at it before looking back at Dumbledore.

"Why give it to me, though?"

"You are wise beyond your years, Luna, something that is rare in those your age. I trust you not to use the ring for your own personal satisfaction and wants, but to only use it in time of need."

"Oh." I said, nodding and feeling the warmth of praise fill me. Dumbledore nodded before speaking.

"Keep it with you at all times, unless separation be required to keep it safe. It is still a horcruxe, and an extremely powerful item. Though Voldemort will have no wish for a ring to bring back the dead, whoever holds all items becomes the master of death, something I fear Voldemort wants to be. Be safe, child, and I bid you farewell until the next time, whenever that may be." Dumbledore said, standing up, patting me on the shoulder before leaving the office.

"Wow." I breathed, pulling the golden chain I kept around my neck. My brother had given it to me for my thirteenth birthday. Just a simple gold chain, but it meant the world to me. Putting the ring on the chain, I stood up and grabbed a handful of floo powder, walking into the fireplace.

"Potter mansion." I said, taking off in a whirl of green light.

**POV Lily Evans**

I held onto James tightly, tears starting to appear on my face. They were home. They were safe, and they were home.

"I missed you." I whispered, and James nodded, hugging me tightly, smiling.

"I missed you too." He returned, when a flash of green appeared in the corner of my eyes, and I let go of James to see Luna step out of the fireplace, putting what looked like a golden chain under her shirt. She looked tired, faint circles under her eyes, and her hair was dirty as she took a deep breath before I engulfed her into a hug.

"Luna!" I cried, hugging my friend tightly. Luna smiled, hugging me before pulling back.

"Wotcher, Flowers." She greeted, and I smiled.

"I was so worried! After I escaped, I felt horrible for leaving you back there!" I said, but Luna waved me off.

"It's fine Lily, it was the right thing. Besides, we're still alive.." Luna said, trailing off sadly and a second later I realized something, my heart stopping.

"Where's Regulus?" I asked, and Luna looked down.

"He died." She said quietly, and I felt the tears flooding my eyes before I blinked them back with difficulty.

"Oh, Regulus." I sighed, and James wrapped an arm around me.

"He's fine. He died peacefully after we escaped." James said, and I nodded.

"He's buried in a gorgeous forest. We'll- We'll stop by some time, and show you." Sirius said, speaking for the first time and I heard a crash from the kitchen.

"Sirius?" A voice asked, and Mary walked out of the kitchen, her face puzzled before breaking out into a smile.

"Guys! You're back!" Mary said, hugging a relunctant Luna, then James, Remus, then Sirius, whom she kissed on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried." Mary said, and Sirius nodded, smiling down at her. Though something else was in his eyes, and not the adoration I had grown use to seeing in his eyes when he looked at Mary. Instead, it was confliction.

"You had nothing to worry about." Sirius smiled, and Mary nodded, taking a deep breath.

"I know, I know. But still! It's been months! Our wedding is in a month and a half, and that's little time to prepare!" Mary said, and Sirius smiled, nodding.

We'll have enough time." He said, and I heard a click as the screen door shut, the door that lead to the balcony.

"Excuse me for a moment." I said, kissing James on the cheek before following Luna outside.

She was leaning against the railing, looking at the view.

"Luna?" I asked, and Luna smiled, turning towards me.

"Hey Lily." She said, and I leaned on the railing next to her.

"What's up?"

"The sky." Luna snorted, and I rolled my eyes.

"Haha, very funny." I said, nudging her with my elbow.

"But really, what's wrong?"

Luna sighed before speaking, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm just worried. We only found three horcruxes. What if there's more? And we still need to destroy the ones we have. I'm just wondering what the next few months will bring." Luna shrugged, and I nodded, biting my lip. I knew there was something she wasn't telling me, but I figured it would be better to let her tell me when she was ready.

"It'll all turn out for the best." I said after a moment, and Luna nodded in agreement.

"It just depends for_ who_." Luna sighed, and as the two of us stood there on the balcony, thinking about the future, dreams, and nightmares, I realized two things.

One, Was that a war was coming. We could keep putting it off, but it was going to come sometime sooner or later.

And two? I was gonna make sure we'd be ready when it does.

_**XXXxxxXXXxxxXX**_

_**HAHA! Finally got the last chapter published XD XD so happy!**_

_**Also, obviously things haven't been wrapped up... so yes, there will be a third book :)**_

_**I've gotten a schedule and everything, and from now on I should be posting on Monday's and Wednesdays, and occasionally Saturdays, if time allows!**_

_**So no more having to wait ridiculous amounts of time, kay? Kay.**_

_**Luv ya,**_

_**-Leyla**_


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